Strands of Red
by kaseynicole21
Summary: In which the ASL Trio ends up in Shanks' care, Zoro is somehow given to Mihawk, Koala chooses to stay with the Sun Pirates instead of running off to be a Revolutionary, and Rosinante survives but Law goes pirate anyway because Doflamingo's still a dick. Cross-posted on AO3. MarcoAce, SaboKoala, LuffyLaw, ZoroSanji, ShanksMakino, ThatchIzo
1. Prologue 1 Part 1

**Inspired by ASL in Red by Kereea on AO3**

 **The first couple of chapters are prologues, going over the alterations I make in different characters' histories. The characters I will be going over are the ASL Trio - who tie into Usopp, Zoro - who ties into Sanji, Koala - who ties into Nami, and Law. The ASL Trio are the only ones who have more than one chapter.**

 **Future pairings include MarcoAce, SaboKoala, LuffyLaw, ZoroSanji, and ThatchIzo. Other pairings are actually still be decided at the moment _(for one of them, I'm having trouble choosing between Robin/Vivi or Nami/Vivi)_.**

 **So anyway, I hope you enjoy my story! :)**

* * *

 **Prologue 1 Part 1: Go Red**

...

The Captain's in a bad mood.

Benn supposes it's to be expected. After all, it's the anniversary of Roger's death, the anniversary of the day Miss Rouge went missing. Shanks always gets like this on this day; stops being the fun-loving, party-going drinker the crew is fond of, and he stews silently somewhere far enough away from the crew for them to not get caught up in it, but close enough to reach them quickly if something happens. The Red-Haired Pirates have all learned to avoid him on this day; don't say a word to him, and he won't snap at you in return.

Which is why Benn can't help but feel a sense of foreboding when Vice-Admiral Garp hops his way onto their ship with a heavy thunk.

Benn and Yasopp keep on either side of Shanks, guns at the ready. They're not sure if there will actually be a fight. It's impossible to tell with Garp, the man is far too unpredictable. But Benn feels a sense of nervousness, because his Captain is in a vulnerable mood right now, and Garp doesn't look to be in the best of moods, either.

No, Garp is normally all grins and bellows and insane laughter as he makes a game out of fighting Shanks, and Shanks usually plays along. _Because it's fun, Benn._ But right now, there's a furrow to his brows that Benn can't tell if it's worry or anger, and there's a frown on his face as his gaze zeros in on Shanks, sitting on a barrel between Benn and Yasopp, head bowed and hiding his eyes, sword gripped far too tightly in his remaining hand.

Something's not right about this visit, but Benn isn't sure what. Garp isn't in his Marine uniform, he's in a simple black suit. There's no Marine ship behind him to back him up, but a simple one-man ship that is completely dwarfed by the size of the Red Force. Garp isn't laughing or calling Shanks a disrespectful, grandson-stealing brat _(and wasn't that a shock, learning that Little Luffy was this insane fool's grandchild?)_ , or tossing canon balls like it's a sport.

"Oh," Benn holds back a wince at the tone of his Captain's voice, dark and shaky, like he's trying to hold in all of his anger at the world that took the closest thing he had to a father and mother away from him, "Would you look at this. Garp the _Hero's_ come to say _hello_ to me. That's too bad for you, Mr. Hero. I'm not in such a good mood right now."

The hand on his saber tightens, and Benn can hear the redhead's knuckles cracking from where he stands.

"Roger's death day," Garp states flippantly, and Benn closes his eyes in resignation, "Got you in a pouty mood, does it?"

Shanks doesn't react, at least not visibly, and Benn can only be grateful for it.

"What do you want?" Shanks asks lowly.

"A favor," Garp responds. There's a reluctance in his tone, and Benn can tell that the last thing the man wants is to come to Shanks, and he wonders what could've possibly happened that Garp is lowering his standards to pirates.

Shanks releases a laughing scoff, no humor in his tone, and he finally lifts his eyes to take in Garp's form, irises constricted in a way that usually bodes badly for anyone under that gaze, "A _favor?_ And why should I do anything for _you_ , Mr. Hero? What's in it for me, _exactly?_ "

"Keeping your Captain's dying wish alive."

There's a silence, long and heavy, before Shanks suddenly snaps.

"And what the hell does _that_ mean?"

"I'm sure you know," Garp sighs, looking far too tired, "The precautions the Marines took to ensure that Roger's bloodline would never continue."

Shanks smirks darkly, "You mean, do I know about the Marines year-long stay in Baterilla, _murdering_ every pregnant woman they came across? Yes, I know about your _precautions_."

"He survived."

There's a pause before Shanks jerkily tilts his head, "Excuse me?"

"His name is Ace," Garp continues in a softer voice that's so unlike his usual bellow, ignoring the darkening glower, and the older man gazes unseeingly at some point beyond Shanks, and Benn can only assume what he's seeing is this Ace, "He's got Roger's temper, you know. But, he's got a friend that's been teaching him patience, so it's starting to become harder and harder to ignite it; I can only assume he got that semblance of patience from Miss Rouge. He's hardheaded and stubborn and he can be a mean little brat like Roger, but he most certainly got Miss Rouge's sweeter personality. He looks just like her, too, you know. He's got Roger's dark hair, but Miss Rouge's curls. He's got her freckles and her lighter skin and her smile, but he's got Roger's eyes and the shape of his nose and jaw. And he's gonna grow up and turn heads the same way his mother did; he's already on his way to be being just as beautiful as she was. It's just too bad Roger won't be here to put the fear of god into anyone that looks his way; that would have made for some entertainment, I bet."

Shanks' face softens for a moment, and Benn thinks he might be trying to picture this boy _(the_ Pirate King's _boy, fuck sakes, could this day get a_ _ny weirder?)_ , his Captain's son, a boy Shanks could have probably called a little brother had it not been for the tragedy that befell the Gol family.

Shanks' attention quickly snaps back to Garp, "And why are you telling me this?"

"Because rumors have started," Garp states, "Ace was seen running through one of Goa's towns with his friends, and someone was upset enough to make a phone call to the Marines. Someone decided to investigate and... now they're trying to make a connection between Ace and Roger. I need you to take him before they do, because it's only a matter of time. Portgas isn't a common name, even less so on people with dark hair."

"...And what happens if I don't?"

"Either the Marines storm Dawn Island and take Ace, killing anyone who tries to help him, or they simply shoot him on the spot, along with Luffy and Sabo for associating with him."

Shanks jerks along with a few other crew members, "Luffy?"

"Yeah," Garp huffs out a chuckle, "Luffy and another boy, Sabo, fancy themselves as Ace's brothers. They won't leave him behind, and they sure as hell won't leave him to the Marines' mercy. They'd rather die with him. My only other option is to take the three and run, and more than likely get caught."

"You want me to take those boys in for protection?" Shanks tilts his head again, looking far calmer than before, "Why not just Ace?"

Garp sighs through his nose in frustration, "Because my son... my son is a _fool_ that doesn't stop to consider how his actions will affect his family. Dragon the Revolutionary is Luffy's father. Even without Ace by his side, Luffy would be in danger. Sabo, too. A Noble that ran from home, and you and I both know that Nobles running is a death sentence."

"If the Marines don't go for Ace, they'll go for Luffy," Shanks mutters, looking thoughtful, "And if they don't go for Luffy, there's always a chance that this Sabo leaving home was insulting enough for the Nobles to pay off the Marines to go after him. For god sake, Garp, you couldn't have had less troublesome grandkids?"

Garp grins, the heavy mood finally broken, and he bellows loudly, "Bwahahaha! It's less fun that way!"

Shanks sobers up a little, "But... I guarantee you... that Ace is the one in the most danger. Even with Captain's death handing the title of Most Wanted Man in the World over to Dragon, he's still considered far less of a threat than the Marines ever considered Captain. They may very well go after Luffy, if only to use him as a hostage against Dragon, but Ace would always be their main target..."

"Yes," Garp nods grimly, "Ace's capture would make far more of a statement than Luffy's would."

There's another silence, and the crew looks between their Captain and the Vice-Admiral with baited breath. Because Garp the Hero has admitted to _betraying_ the Marines by keeping the Pirate King's child alive, by keeping the Revolutionary's child alive, and he admitted it to a _pirate_ no less. He's here, practically begging their Captain to take these children in, and if the Red-Haired Pirates know their Captain well enough, then...

"I'll take them," Shanks states, sighing a bit, and Garp seems to perk up, looking far more like his usual _(batshit insane)_ self, "Captain's son, Anchor, and... Sabo, was it? It shouldn't be too hard, my crew and I head to the East Blue all the time, so no one would think twice about it. Besides, I haven't seen Miss Makino in a while..."

Garp snorts, muttering, mouth very nearly dropping into a pout, "Damn fool girl... letting you charm her..."

"Ah, but it was _I_ who was charmed, Mr. Hero," Shanks admits jovially, "She's got those eyes, you know?"

Garp snorts again, looking at Shanks in resigned agreement, "Don't I know it? She's used them on me quite a bit."

Shanks chuckles a bit, and Benn snorts in agreement himself, because he has seen the kinds of things Makino could convince Shanks to do with her eyes alone. Usually something involving Luffy. Benn himself can admit to getting caught up in them a couple of times.

Shanks sighs again, carefully lifting himself off the barrel. Benn steps a bit closer in case he needs help, because his Captain is still getting used to having only a single arm to work with, even a year later _(losing an arm isn't exactly something one gets over in a couple of months)_ and he tends to lose his balance from time to time.

He glances at Garp, giving him a single nod that Garp quickly returns before bellowing out, "Change coarse! We're headed to the East Blue!"

As Benn watches Garp jump overboard and onto his own boat, he can't help but feel life aboard the Red Force is going to get a bit more interesting.

* * *

Garp takes a different route, one that gets him to Dawn Island far faster than the Red Force and one that draws the least amount of suspicions from the Government so that they would not be able to connect Garp with the Red-Haired Pirates.

They reach Fuschia in a little under a week, a record time considering they traveled there all the way from the New World.

Garp is already there, waiting for them. No one comes out the greet them, and they can only assume Garp forbade them from doing so. In order to safely remove the boys, no one can see them; this way, should an investigation - which, will more than likely happen - be requested, the villagers can claim they saw nothing.

No one says a word, not even Garp, when Shanks immediately makes a beeline for Party's Bar.

Miss Makino looks up from her work of cleaning glasses when the batwing doors swing open with Shanks' entrance, and she greets him with a beaming smile.

"Ah, Captain!" She says softly, "I wasn't expecting you. Mr. Garp is making everybody stay inside, so I thought there would be scarier pirates showing up."

Shanks holds his hand over his heart mockingly, "You don't find me scary? My pride, Miss Makino!"

She simply releases a small, serene giggle before replying, "Well, Luffy will be excited to see you back. And Ace and Sabo will be able to thank you like they've been planning."

"Oh?"

"Mm," She hums, "Luffy found himself some big brothers who wish to thank you for taking care of him. If you hadn't, they wouldn't have been able to meet each other, and I'd hate to think about what could've happened to Luffy or how different Little Ace would be without Luffy around."

She frowns at the thought, brows furrowing in worry. It's true that Sabo helped Ace through his insecurities and his anger at the world quite a bit, but Luffy helped brighten his day and make him smile. She fears that without Luffy's naive, unconditional love, Ace wouldn't be the same person. She wishes she knew what the world has done to him to make him so sad, but she knows he won't tell her, at least not yet. She's just glad she got to bond with him enough that he allowed her to see the side of him only Luffy and Sabo know about; he even let her teach him a few tricks.

She smiles when she thinks back on the day they had spent together, just the two of them, and how Ace had actually looked like the child he was during her teachings, with open curiosity and determination to get it right.

"Speaking of them..." Shanks sighs heavily, taking a seat at the barstool in front of her.

"You're here for them, aren't you?" Makino interrupts, a serene smile making its way onto her face as she resumes cleaning the wine glasses in front of her, "That's why Mr. Garp has everyone waiting inside, yes?"

"You're too smart for your own good, girl," Shanks grumbles, "You shouldn't be able to read me like that. I'm _me._ "

She releases a rather unladylike snort, "And that's exactly why I can read you so easily."

She stares at him for a moment, her face sobering, "Are they in danger? I've always wondered why Mr. Garp tried to keep Ace away from the village. The only times I see him are when he sneaks past everyone. Nobody in this village actually knows who he is. I didn't even know until Luffy dragged him and Sabo down the mountain to meet me, so I've wondered..."

"Aye," Shanks answers, "Mr. Vice-Admiral asked us to take them."

She stares at him some more. She knows full well how Garp felt about pirates - she's had to listen to him bellow enough about allowing _"the Red-Haired brat to swoon her"_ \- so for him to ask pirates to take the boys he considers grandsons... she may not know the whys or hows, but she most certainly knows this means someone is after her boys.

But she's not as worried as she probably should be. Because those boys are strong, and Shanks is here to take care of them.

"You better be careful, Captain," She smiles, "Those boys are rather protective of each other. One wrong move, and even Luffy will be on your case."

Shanks chuckles, "I wouldn't expect anything less."

"Go get them," She says, turning toward the staircase, "I'm going to go pack a few things for Ace."

"For Ace?" Shanks blinks, but she's already heading upstairs, muttering something about how _'they were supposed to practice again this week, but this will have to do'_ , and he blinks again before shrugging. He supposes it's no business of his, but something between Ace and Makino. If Ace wants to tell him, that's fine, but for now, Ace doesn't know him, so it might be a while to reach that point and the boy deserves privacy.

He excites the bar, sharing a nod with Garp, who begins leading them past the village and through the jungle Shanks noticed the last time he was here, but ignored in favor of the bar, Makino, and Luffy. He remembers catching a glimpse of it when that bandit dragged Luffy through a small portion of it to reach the coast the Sea King lives in, but the coast was in a shallow part of the jungle, barely a piece of it, and so Shanks can't help but be surprised by the sheer size of the animals they come across. And Luffy is living here now, with two other boys? Is this even safe for children? A glance at Benn and Yasopp shows similar thoughts passing through their eyes.

They reach a rather homey looking cabin in a small space cleared of forestry, and there's a large woman, almost larger than even Garp, there waiting for them. Her glare immediately hones in on Shanks, and he sees her clench the cigarettes in her mouth between her teeth, arms crossing in a form of stubborn intimidation.

"Dadan," Garp greets, "How are they?"

"Sabo's burns still hurt," She says, "I don't think he'll be able to see out of his eye very well even after they heal. The three are still scared of fire, Sabo especially. Though, I s'pose that's to be expected."

Garp sighs heavily, warily, and Shanks spares him a glance, "What does that mean?"

"Pirates," Garp spits out before calming, "The kind of pirates I became a Marine for. Kidnapped my boys and started a fire near the town past the jungle. The boys got caught up in it before Dadan found them, and Sabo..."

Garp sighs again, scrubbing his face almost violently, "Sabo tried to sail off to escape his parents and got spotted by a Celestial Dragon."

Yasopp jerks and Benn sucks in a sharp breath, clenching his own cigarette, and Shanks lets his eyes bear into Garp's. Because Shanks knows exactly how cruel and petulant the Celestial Dragons can be, and he knows that the sight of a child in their route would have angered them. Probably made them feel the boy was ruining their "essence" with his presence or something. And they most certainly wouldn't have let that slide.

"And?" He demands.

"They shot at him," Garp answers grimly, "Ace had dropped Dadan off before taking off to catch up with Dogra - one of Dadan's men. They saw Sabo get shot at, and Ace jumped in after him. Ace was a little burned, but nothing serious, nothing a little burn cream can't fix. It won't even scar. Sabo, though... he was in the direct line of fire. The left side of his body was burned pretty badly. It even got his eye. It's one of the reasons I contacted you when I did; they can't stay here, not now that they've made themselves enemies of the Nobles and most certainly not with the Marines after Ace."

"Damn Nobles," Yasopp mutters under his breath, pinching the bridge of his nose before rubbing his eyes tiredly. The cruelty the world is capable of handing out to children astounds him sometimes, and his resolve to wait to see his son cracks even more.

Shanks sighs heavily through his nose before speaking, "And where are they?"

"Inside," Dadan answers, and when Shanks makes a move to enter, she immediately blocks him.

Shanks is actually quite impressed. This woman most certainly knows who he is, yet she glares down at him as menacingly as she can despite the fear his Haki can pick up on from her. She keeps eye contact with him as she speaks lowly, a small snarl curling at her lips, "I raised Ace from a baby, you know. And I may have only known Sabo and Luffy for a little under a year, but those boys are _mine,_ you hear me? If anything happens to them, whether they get hurt or you say something stupid and upset 'em, I'll find out. And I won't ever forget or forgive. And I'll sure as hell find a way to get back at you, Mr. Powerful Emperor. Whether you're stronger than me or not."

"Understood," Shanks doesn't hesitate to reply, voice solemn so that this woman can understand just how much he's willing to do for Luffy, for those two boys _(his Captain's son!)_ he hasn't even met yet. She stares him down a moment longer before cautiously stepping aside, allowing him to walk into the cabin.

There are several men mingling about, and they all freeze at the sight of him, staring at him cautiously, some even given him warning looks. A small man in a turban is the one to jab a finger down one of the halls, and he immediately follows the directions. He can hear Garp, Yasopp, and Benn following after him, but he pays them little mind as he walks the surprisingly long hallway. He begins hearing voices, young and muffled, the further down the hall he gets, and he stops by the door they are sounding from.

He opens it, and the occupants inside freeze before turning to face him. Luffy is the first one he notices; he looks a little bigger, a little taller than before, but he's still a little thing, his old strawhat too big for him and sliding down his head. The next one he notices he assumes to be Sabo; the blonde boy is sitting up on a small futon, gazing at him curiously. He's shirtless, bandages all over, and Shanks immediately zeros in on the medical eye-patch covering his left eye. Red, blistering skin just barely peaks out from the side of the patch, and Shanks can already tell that the burns are deep and severe, and he understands Dadan's doubts about the boy being able to properly see out of that eye ever gain.

And then he sees his Captain's boy.

Garp's description of Ace had been quite accurate. Shanks can see his Captain's intense silver gaze boring into him, a hint of curiosity, a hint of warning, and a hint of caution. He can see Miss Rouge's cinnamon colored freckles splattered across the boy's cheeks and nose; he even has that one large spot that took up a small bit of the right side of Miss Rouge's nose, close to her eye. His skin is paler than Roger's dark tan, but not as light as Miss Rouge's had been. He can see her curls, though a bit messier than hers had been, and her slight brows, but Roger's dark hair and his nose. He has Roger's strong jaw, but his appearance overall is far softer than his Captain's had ever been. He's a perfect mixture of Miss Rouge and Roger, leaning a bit more towards Miss Rouge, and Shanks can immediately understand why the Marines are so intent on connecting this boy with his Captain.

Because there's no way this boy is anything but Roger's son, not with those eyes.

The boy appears to notice his staring, though Shanks is just far too fascinated to be able bring himself to look away, and the child purses is lips in agitation. The spell suddenly broken, Luffy hops to his feet with a large grin and a bellow of Shanks' name, launching himself into the redhead's arm.

"Dahahaha!" Shanks laughs, though he takes note of Ace and Sabo's tensing the moment he touches Luffy, "How've you been, Anchor?"

"I have brothers now!" Luffy exclaims jubilantly, twisting around in Shanks' arm to look at the other two boys, "Guys, guys! This is Shanks! He's the one I told you about!"

The tension lessens in the older boys', but only somewhat. The two boys share a glance before looking up at Shanks. Ace remains stone-faced, but Sabo smiles somewhat.

"Ah, you're the one who stopped Luffy from drowning," Sabo states, voice polite and far too refined for a boy his age, and he lowers his head in what is meant to be a bow. He places a hand on Ace's back and pushes him down into a proper bow, though Ace appears rather reluctant to do so, and they speak at once, one monotone and the other happily polite, "Thank you for saving our brother."

Shanks can see Ace tensing back up again, and he realizes that the boy isn't the type to handle being in a submissive position very well. Sabo seems to know this, and immediately removes the hand that had been gently guiding Ace into a bow, allowing him to sit back up.

Sabo gives Ace an encouraging pat on the shoulder, speaking brightly, "Miss Makino's lessons are paying off; you're getting less stiff."

Ace only gives a small grunt in acknowledgment before turning his attention back to Luffy and Shanks, "So, what are you doing here?"

Ace glances behind Shanks, blinking at the sight of Garp. Garp, now that he's been noticed, steps into the room that's quickly becoming crowded. Luffy finally seems to notice and tenses up in Shanks' arm, staring at Garp wide-eyed, pointing a finger that looks somewhat accusing, "AH! IT'S GRAMPS!"

"DON'T BELLOW OUT LIKE YOU'RE SCARED OF ME YOU UNGRATEFUL GRANDSON!" Garp shouts back before sighing through his nose. He lets himself fall onto his rear heavily, drawing his legs up to cross them, and he turns his attention to Ace and Sabo.

"Red-Haired is here because I asked him to come here," He states, voice sober, something that quickly catches the older boys' attentions.

"But, you hate pirates," Ace narrows his eyes.

"Yes," Garp answers, "But I'm willing to work with them if it means keeping my grandsons safe."

Ace and Sabo blink, and Luffy gives Garp a questioning look. Shanks can see, though, a spark of understanding in Ace's eyes and it makes him queasy for reasons he can't quite understand.

"You boys need to pack up everything you want to take with you," Garp states, "You're going to be staying with Red-Haired on his ship from now on."

"We're gonna stay with Shanks!?" Luffy exclaims, voice containing traces of both excitement and confusion.

"That's right!" Garp states, "So go pack!"

"Gramps," Ace's voice is quiet, and it catches everyone's attention. He doesn't look scared, not at all. Resigned is more like it, "Are they coming after me?"

Shanks sucks in a sharp breath through his nose. Because his Captain's son knows all about his heritage, it seems, and he knows that the world would rather see him dead solely because of who his father is. _And that is not okay._ Because he's a _child_ and no child should ever have such a burden placed on their too-small shoulders. He shoots Garp a look, wanting to know why the hell the man thought it would be okay to tell the boy his heritage when he was young enough to be affected by it and not wait until he was old enough to not care, but Garp ignores him.

The man places a hand that dwarfs the boy's back onto his shoulders and states solemnly, "This is not your fault, Ace. It's everything that's happened this past year. Your father, Luffy's father, Sabo's parents, the Bluejam Pirates, the Celestial Dragons... it's all adding up to be too much, and so I'm sending you to Shanks because I know you'll be safer with him, and I'd rather you be a pirate than dead. You'll thrive with him, as a pirate, I'm sure of it."

Shanks watches as Ace's brows furrow, eyes searching as he stares up at the man he calls a grandfather before nodding slowly, understanding passing through his eyes. Shanks wonders if this is the first time Garp gave the boy permission, however indirectly, to become a pirate; by the wide-eyed looks Sabo and Luffy are shooting the man, he can only assume yes.

Luffy suddenly blinks, one of Garp's comments finally catching up with him, "My father? I have a father?"

Garp sighs, giving Luffy a flat look, "Yes. My idiot son's just as much trouble as you, so people don't like him any more than they like Ace's father."

Shanks sees Ace purse his lips, looking rather indignant on Luffy's behalf, "So, Luffy's dad's alive, but he just left him behind?"

"Well-" Garp tries, only to get cut off.

"Ace has a point," Sabo says, "There's really no excuse to leave your child behind. Unless you're dead, in which case, that's plenty of an excuse."

Shanks shoots Yasopp a raised brow, grin slowly forming, and the man purses his lips and shoots him a glare in response.

Garp snots irritably, "Just go pack, brats."

Shanks watches in concern as Sabo struggles to his feet. Ace helps him, but the boy can only do so much when he's completely avoiding one side of Sabo's body. The two immediately scamper out of the room - Luffy following - the second Sabo is steady, but Shanks wonders if the boy will need help carrying his things.

"Where are they going?" Yasopp asks.

"Treehouse," Garp states, swiftly hopping to his feet, "That's where they keep all their things. The fire nearly got it, but Dadan and the others put it out in time. That's their safe haven, you know; they built it all by themselves. Well, Sabo and Ace did, anyway. Dadan wasn't gonna let it burn."

"I see..." Shanks mutters, "Will Sabo need help?"

"Doubt he'd let you help even if he needed it," Shanks turns his attention to Dadan as she steps next to the door, arms crossed in a more casual manner than before, looking far calmer, "Boy's got just as much stubborn pride as Ace, even if he won't admit it. Besides, he's been doing fine so far. He has some trouble standing and climbing the ladder to the treehouse, but nothing else seems to bother him so long as he avoids his left side."

Shanks hums in acknowledgment - but adds a mental note to have his crew's doctor give the boy a checkup - before he, Yasopp, Benn, and Garp follow her outside. It doesn't take long for the boys to pack, only one bag for each of them, and Shanks frowns when he realizes he's probably going to have to dock somewhere else in the East Blue to go stock up on things the boys will need. He's already set up one of the spare cabins on the ship for the boys to sleep in, but he still needs proper linens for the hammocks, dressers, things to personalize the room with, proper _beds_ seeing as hammocks tend to only be used for rougher weather... he sighs. He probably should've prepared better.

He, Benn, and Yasopp raise their brows at the pipes strapped to their backs, but refrain from making any comments. He'll ask when they're comfortably at sea.

After a rather unusual, yet somehow heartwarming goodbye with Dadan - which involves calling the woman a hag and her crying and yelling at people not to look at her, the begin their trek back down the mountain.

The boys follow them through the jungle with an ease that puts even Garp to shame, and Shanks grins at the cheeky movements they make, hopping past curious oversized crocs in a way that makes Yasopp visibly tense and Benn grin in silent amusement. It doesn't take long for them to reach the village, and the boys look around curiously when they realize no one is there, that the village looks rather deserted. Shanks can't help but chuckle, though, when their gaze immediately zeros in on the Red Force, eyes wide in childish curiosity.

"It's different from your last ship," Luffy states.

"Aye," Shanks says, "Our last ship was getting worn out, so we had to replace it before it got to the point that it would sink. I like this ship, though. Material's much more sturdy than our last one. We even got a figurehead this time!"

Garp snorts, shooting him a look that Shanks merely grins at. They both know how illegal Adam's Wood has become, something ignited by Roger's death with the realization that the Oro Jackson had nearly been indestructible. Garp doesn't comment, though, letting Shanks continue to lead the boys toward the ship.

They stop, though, when Miss Makino steps out of the bar, a small satchel in hand. She smiles at them when Luffy bellows out a greeting, stopping and kneeling down before the boys.

"Now, I wasn't going to let you leave without a goodbye," She says before turning her attention to Ace. She gives him a kind smile before handing him the little brown satchel. Shanks can hear something click inside with the movement, like two thick pieces of glass connecting. He watches curiously as Ace's eyes widen in understanding when he hears the noise before he flushes brightly, the freckles on his cheeks darkening from the color change, and he slowly takes the bag from her. Sabo smiles in both a knowing and patient manner, giving Ace an encouraging prod that causes the boy's flush to lessen somewhat.

"The picture you wanted me to keep safe is in there, too," Makino continues, "I framed it for you."

"Ah," Ace stutters, "Th-thank you..."

Her smiles widens before she suddenly leans forward, capturing all three in a tight hug. Luffy happily returns it, but the older boys appear to hesitate for a brief moment before doing the same.

"My boys," Makino murmurs, "I'm going to miss you!"

"Us too, Macchan!" Luffy exclaims, grinning wide as she lets them go.

She gives them one more smile before turning her attention to Shanks. She walks up to him, discreetly pulling a slip of paper from beneath her kerchief and handing it to him.

"This is a list," She murmurs quietly, allowing no one to hear her but him, "For things Ace will need. But, you're not allowed to look at it until Ace is comfortable with you knowing. 'Kay?"

He blinks, glancing at the folded slip before returning his gaze to her with a raised brow, "And... how will I know he's comfortable...?"

"Trust me," She smiles, "You'll know."

They both turn their attention to the boys at the sound of commotion, watching as Garp appears to become emotional for the first time in their presence.

"So... we're leaving forever then...?" Sabo asks hesitantly, and Garp gives a grim nod.

Ace appears contemplative for a moment. Shanks watches as a realm of emotions pass over his face, from hesitant to thoughtful to somewhat angry and reluctant to resigned, and finally the boy purses his lips and takes a step forward. Ace avoids Garp's eyes completely, but he gives the man a hug as best as he can, wrapping his arms around the large man's legs.

"I guess..." He seems to grind out, "Even though you're a shitty gramps, I'll miss you."

Sabo and Luffy suddenly grin wide, and Shanks can't help give a small grin at the sight of the blonde child's missing tooth, and the two boys jump forward and wrap their own arms around Garp.

"You're scary, but you're still really nice," Sabo states, "I'll miss you too."

"I don't like your Fist of Love! It hurts and it's stupid, but you're still my gramps, kay?" Luffy says, "And I'll miss you!"

Garp stares at them for a moment, eyes wide in complete disbelief before they seem to water. If Shanks didn't know any better, he'd say that there were sparkles flying around Garp's eyes, and he wonders if the man had a hard time of getting affection from the boys. The man's eyes appear to water, and when Ace looks up at him, the boy gives a smirk that's somewhat mean, somewhat teasing.

"Are you crying?" The boy gloats.

Garp suddenly snaps out of it, and in one quick movement, lands a punch on the top of each child's head. Shanks, Yasopp, and Benn stare, some more shocked than others, but Miss Makino merely smiles indulgently, and Shanks is suddenly very happy he's taking these kids with him, especially when the fight begins.

"I'M NOT CRYING!" Garp bellows, blatantly ignoring the large trail of tears streaming down his face.

Ace holds the rather large bump forming on his head, shooting Garp a glare, "But you are! YOU CRYBABY!"

"WHAT WAS THAT!?"

"SO WHAT, NOW YOU'RE A CRYBABY _AND_ YOU'RE DEAF!?"

"YOU DAMN BRAT! WHO TAUGHT YOU TO SPEAK TO YOUR ELDERS LIKE THAT!?"

" _YOU_ DID, YOU IDIOT! YOU'RE ALWAYS SPEAKING TO PEOPLE LIKE THAT!"

"BECAUSE I'M OLD, DAMMIT! I'M _ALLOWED_ TO SPEAK TO PEOPLE LIKE THAT, ESPECIALLY SNOT-NOSED _BRATS!_ "

The three Red-Haired Pirates continue to stare as the argument gets more and more heated, yet never delves into any form of maliciousness. Shanks glances toward his ship and he smirks in amusement when he sees a few loitering crewmembers staring at the spectacle that is the D Family. Sabo and Luffy seem to find it entertaining, snickering to each other and trying to hide it from the bellowing duo in front of them.

Miss Makino laughs brightly at the sight, and Shanks spares her a glance, "This normal?"

"It's their own form of affection," Makino answers, "Ace and Mr. Garp aren't exactly good with feelings."

"Ah," Shanks mumbles, brows furrowed a little. So, if he gets yelled at by the kid, does that mean he likes him...? Shanks isn't quite sure how he's going to bond with his Captain's son if that's the case; he's not used to people who are unable to express themselves properly. Even Benn, for all his stoicism, has no problems with showing how he feels. Shanks is certain any form of affection Ace may show him in the future will confuse the absolute hell out of him.

Benn suddenly sighs heavily, exasperation clear on his features, and he interrupts the arguing duo, "All right, all right. If we're all ready, then we need to go. Getting back to the New World will take some time, and we can't afford to be gone for too long. We can't leave our territories unprotected."

"Territories?" Sabo blinks curiously.

"We'll tell you on the _sea,_ " Benn says pointedly, and he begins his trek up the ship's ramp.

The boys watch Benn's movements for a moment before sharing a glance. All at once, they give Garp and Makino one last hug before scurrying after him. Shanks watches them as best as he can from his vantage point, and they look all around the ship in open curiosity. Yasopp sighs indulgently before following Benn's lead, making his way up the ramp. He seems to keep the boys entertained while they wait for Shanks' orders, pointing out different spots on the ship as he speaks to them, the boys giving him their complete attention _(though, Shanks notices that Luffy's wanes more often than not)_.

"Red-Haired," Shanks turns his attention to Garp, narrowing his eyes at the sight of Garp's grim features.

"I need you to teach those boys Haki, and it's best if you don't wait," Garp very nearly demands.

"They're a bit young for that, don't you think?" Shanks states idly, though there is a dark undertone that he's sure Garp wouldn't miss. Because Haki is difficult to learn, and the power itself is intense for those who aren't used to it, and children shouldn't have to concern themselves with such a thing.

"You may think it dangerous for them to learn, but it's more dangerous if they don't," Garp comments before he releases a tired sigh, "Ace... the business with the fire caused him to awaken Conqueror's Haki."

Shanks eyes widen, completely caught off guard. Because that boy is a child, and while it's heard of for people to be born with Haki, such stories usually only apply to Observation Haki. For a child as young as Ace to awaken something as powerful as Conqueror's Haki...

He snorts, "He truly is Roger and Miss Rouge's, isn't he?"

Garp snorts back, "Yes, though he may not like to hear that."

Garp gives him one last stern look, "You take care of my boys, you understand me?"

"Aye," Shanks agrees easily, a grin lighting up his features. He takes his time saying goodbye to Makino, cupping her cheek in one hand and giving her a slow kiss, both ignoring Garp's grumbling in the background. She smiles as he turns away, not a hint of sadness in her features that he's leaving again, and he makes his way onto his ship, his crew pulling up the ramp after him.

"RAISE ANCHOR! IT'S TIME TO LEAVE!"

* * *

 **What's in the bag Makino gave to Ace will be shown in the next chapter, but don't expect anything spectacular. It's not really anything major, just something I decided to experiment with because of my brother and a super pretty fanart that I saw. If it gets good reception, I may explore it a bit more, but it's mostly a background thing that I decided to add in for my own self-interests (and the fanart).**

 **To describe the fanart (because I can't find it again, and I'm sick of looking for it), it was of Ace, Roger, and Rouge in a white background. Roger, of course, is grinning wide like always; he's looking at his bare feet, toes painted red, and laughing; his pant legs are rolled up, showing off some very obvious leg hair and some splotches of shaving cream, and there is a line that has been shaven on his right leg. Rouge is smiling calmly while she watches Ace; her hair is pulled back into a towel and her toenails are painted red with some foam between each toe. Ace is staring at his feet in concentration, tongue poking out; his toes are colored red, though he's still holding the brush and finishing the work off; there's white splotches in his hair, which I can only assume is some type of conditioning. The trio are surrounded by shampoos, conditioners, other haircare products, skincare products, nail products, shaving cream, and other miscellaneous beauty items. It's just a really cute picture that seems to be of Roger and Ace attempting to spend time with Rouge by mimicking what she does, and her indulging them. I kind of wanted Ace to emulate it a little, so... yup.**


	2. Prologue 1 Part 2

**First of all, holy crap with all these favorites and follows and reviews in just, what, a week? That's super awesome, you guys!**

 **Secondly, remember last chapter when Makino gave Ace that satchel? Remember the fanart I described that I wanted Ace to emulate? Well, it's happening in this chapter and I just wanted to clear things up before people read this.**

 **Ace is going to be given traits that one might consider "feminine" _(though, I don't consider them feminine as they are very minor traits; my brother does all the things I'm going to have Ace do, and my brother's as "macho manly manly" as a dude can get)._ But, these traits are minor and won't really impact the story beyond certain scenes.**

 **To be very clear, these "feminine" traits will NOT involve makeup or crossdressing or the like. Basically, he's going to take care of himself - skincare, haircare, nailcare, and the like. Pretty much, he'll just pamper himself _(the way my brother does)_. He'll still be Ace and he'll still look like Ace. However, I must also note that nail polish will also be involved, but like I said, his appearance and personality will NOT change. So, there's my only warning - any flames regarding this little thing I decided to explore will be ignored or even reported, kay? Kay. **

**I'm actually a bit nervous to post this chapter not only because I feel it's not as strong as my first chapter, but I'm afraid that Ace's "feminine" traits won't go over well with my audience, but... here we go. Let's see how you guys like it.**

* * *

 **Prologue 1 Part 2: Parental Bonding**

...

Shanks waits a full day, allowing the boys to settle into their shared cabin and get a good feel of the ship and crew before he begins taking on a more active role.

His first act is to bring Sabo to his doctor and have the man check over the boy's burns, though his eye is Shanks' main concern. The doctor merely tells him that the bandits did a good job of handling the injuries, that he just needs to continue properly cleaning the wound, apply the burn cream, and change the bandages every few hours. There's not much that can be said or done about the eye until the burns begin scabbing over, so Shanks deigns to wait.

He then herds the boys to the dining area of the kitchen, allowing them to each take a seat in front of him. Benn stands off to the side, and both wait until the boys' attention is on them before speaking.

"Alright," Shanks begins, "We gave you a day to yourselves, but now it's time for rules. 'Kay?"

They hum in acknowledgment, so Shanks continues.

"We're gonna treat you as cabin boys for now," Shanks states, "You know what that means?"

They shake their heads.

"A cabin boy is basically the pirate version of a Marine's chore boy," Shanks explains, "You do chores for us in exchange for training and learning about life at sea. Sound good?"

Sabo nods; Ace appears accepting, but his stoic face doesn't truly give Shanks much to work with.

"Chores!?" Luffy yelps, "What's chores have to do with being a pirate!?"

"Every pirate has to do chores," Shanks grins, "You have to keep the ship maintained. Even the captain has to do chores; nobody likes a captain who doesn't do their fair share, you know? Besides, I used to be a cabin boy; we all start out at the bottom."

"You were a cabin boy?" Sabo tilts his head curiously, "Who did you sail under?"

"Why, I sailed under the Pirate King!" Shanks says jovially, grinning wide, though he doesn't miss the way Sabo's eyes widen in worry and the way Ace goes rigid, even if the boy tries his best to hide it from them. As it stands, Luffy is truly the only one with a normal, childish reaction.

"You sailed under the Pirate King!?" He shouts, voice all kinds of excited, and Shanks laughs.

"Dahaha! Where d'ya think I got that hat?"

Luffy clutches the worn strawhat closer to his head, looking completely awed, "This is the Pirate King's hat!?"

"That's right," Shanks grins, "Captain gave that to me after he took me in."

Luffy pauses, giving Shanks a heavy look that doesn't quite belong on his face, and Shanks blinks under the scrutiny, "Is that why it was so important to you?"

"Ah," Shanks smiles a little, "That's right. Captain was the first person to acknowledge me, so him giving me that hat meant a lot to me."

Luffy hums, clutching the hat even tighter, and Shanks grins a little. He notices the way Ace shoots a small glare at the hat before sighing through his nose, and Shanks gets the feeling that if that hat didn't mean so much to Luffy, he'd be missing it at some point.

"Moving on," Shanks says, "As I said, you'll do chores for us in exchange for training. But training isn't the only thing you'll be doing, alright? You'll also have to do some studying."

"Studying?" Luffy groans.

"The Grand Line isn't a place you can just jump into, you know?" Shanks says, "There's all sorts of things out there you'll need to know about, things most people out in the Blues don't ever hear about, and those who do only pass off as rumors. You'll need to know about other pirates, as well; it's best to know who to avoid and who you can call allies. You'll live longer that way, understand?"

"Yes," The three answer at once, though Luffy doesn't quite manage to stop sulking.

"Alright, now ship rules," Shanks states, "I know you probably didn't have a lot of boundaries back at the jungle, but it's going to be different here, get it? We want you to do something, you do it. No arguments. If another crew shows up, you go to your cabin and lock the door; no trying to fight unless you get caught and it's in self-defense. The pirate crews of the Four Blues are nobodies compared to the ones of the Grand Line, so being able to defend yourself from them doesn't truly say much, I'm sorry to say. You understand me?"

Another hum of acknowledgment.

Shanks grins, "Alright! Time for your first set of chores!"

All he gets are answering groans, and he laughs in response.

* * *

 _Bonding Attempt #1:_

Shanks, Benn, Yasopp, and even Lucky Roo sit back with the rest of the crew, meals in front them ignored in favor of watching as the boys tear through their meal in complete and utter awe. There's enough full plates surrounding them to feed at least thirty grown men, yet they begin disappearing at a rapid rate. Even polite little Sabo goes at it like a starving lion, and Shanks has to wonder how those boys are even breathing with how fast they're swallowing. Are they even chewing?

Sabo beings to choke, and Shanks decides, no, they don't chew.

Before he can even make an attempt to help the red-faced boy, Ace and Luffy, without stopping or even looking up from their meal(s), simultaneously smack Sabo's back hard with a free hand. Whatever was lodged in the boy's throat comes flying out, and Shanks doesn't even try to see where it lands. He's far more concerned with the fact that Sabo just jumps back into his meal like nothing ever happened.

"Should we... stop them...?" Benn murmurs, brows furrowing when he notices that the boys are beginning to sneak food off of each other's plates, sometimes getting caught and stopped with a quick smack.

"I... I'm not sure..." Shanks mumbles.

"I feel like... if we tried, we'd get bit," Yasopp states quietly, eyes wide and caught up in the spectacle.

Shanks takes a deep breath before he makes his attempt, speaking loudly to gain their attention, "So, boys!"

The three stop at once and immediately turn their attention to him. Shanks isn't sure if he should be amused or terrified at the synchronization, especially when they all blink and tilt their heads curiously together, gazes far too piercing for children their age.

He clears his throat before grinning, trying to keep the sudden nervousness he feels _(and why is he even nervous? they're children! they won't hurt him over food... right?)_ from showing up on his face, "So, is this how you always eat? I don't quite remember Luffy eating this much back when I stayed on Dawn..."

"Really?" Sabo blinks curiously, "Because Luffy's always eaten like this... I wonder if it's his Devil Fruit."

"What's rubber have to do with food?" Ace grunts, jabbing his fork onto a piece of meat violently enough to make Shanks have to contain himself from recoiling. That boy is far scarier than he should be.

"Well, when you get full, it's because your stomach stretches out," Sabo answers, "But, Luffy's rubber, so his stomach stretching won't really make him feel full. It'll just keep stretching. Maybe that's why he's always hungry, even after meals..."

"Seriously?" Ace blinks before his eyes snap to Shanks, "So, it's _your_ fault we're always running out of food?"

Shanks can't prevent his grin from twitching nervously anymore, "Well-"

"I mean, you're the reason he got his Devil Fruit, aren't you?" Ace asks, forking the piece of meat into his mouth. It should look silly, but those soul piercing silver eyes keep him in place. Shanks suddenly feels like he's being scolded by his Captain for hiding all of Buggy's treasure just to see him squirm all over again.

He didn't know Buggy would _cry_ , dammit! He didn't mean it! Just stop with the _eyes_!

"Hmm," Sabo hums thoughtfully, "I suppose Ace has a point. I mean, even if you aren't the one who left the Devil Fruit out in the open, the Captain's responsible for everything their crew does, right? Even if they don't know about it."

Suddenly, the blonde grins in a way that makes Shanks inwardly shudder, "I suppose it's just divine retribution that Luffy and his stomach would end up on your ship for who knows how many years, huh?"

Before Shanks can defend himself or even make some kind of retort, a hand lands on his shoulder. He glances over at Benn in question, but the man merely jerks his head to the left. Shanks follows his line of sight, and he slackens in shock at Luffy, stomach stretched out and bulging, every plate in front of him and around him licked clean.

He sighs in defeat, "We're gonna have to re-stock at the next available island..."

Divine retribution indeed.

 _Bonding Attempt #1: Fail_

* * *

 _Bonding Attempt #2:_

"So, you fight with pipes?" Kincaid narrows his eyes, scrutiny on his features as he concentrates on Ace and Sabo's spar. It's clear that they're not fighting very hard, more than likely trying to accommodate Sabo's still healing injuries, but even then, their movements are rather impressive for boys their age; Sabo, especially, who moves fluidly despite the handicap his injured eye gives him. Luffy stands next to him, a bit of a pout on his face as he had gone over the 100 match limit Ace and Sabo had apparently set up for him. Kincaid can understand; Luffy isn't the type to know when to quit. He's not sure if that trait is admiral or completely frustrating. A little bit of both, probably, depending on the situation.

"For the most part," Sabo states, swiftly ducking under a swipe from Ace, "They were convenient. They worked pretty good for us, anyway."

Kincaid snorts, "Against thugs and East Blue pirates, maybe. They won't do much out in the Grand Line."

Ace and Sabo pause their movements, turning their attention onto Kincaid.

"Will we need new weapons?" Sabo asks, sparing his pipe a glance, "I kind of like my pipe..."

"We can probably tweak it," Benn states, "Yasopp usually modifies our weapons for us, and I don't see why he can't do the same with the pipes."

"Modify it how?" Ace asks.

"Add material to it to make it more sturdy," Yasopp mutters, narrowing his eyes in concentration as he looks the pipe in Sabo's hands over, scrubbing at his chin in thought, "Add some Seastone coating... would work wonders against Devil Fruit users..."

Sabo blinks, "What's Seastone?"

"It's a material that affects Devil Fruit users," Benn explains, "Say, Luffy, for example, were caught up in Seastone, he'd be completely exhausted. He wouldn't even be able to stretch. That's the main function of Season; it completely drains Devil Fruit users of their energy the same way the sea does."

"I can't stretch?" Luffy exclaims.

"No," Benn answers patiently, "That's why it's not good to rely on your Devil Fruit power the way you've been doing. There's always something out there that can push back against it, so having a failsafe is always good."

"So..." Sabo murmurs, looking over his pipe thoughtfully, "I can add Seastone to my pipe...?"

"If you want," Yasopp answers, "We might need to find a sturdier pipe, though. And even then, we'll need to modify it so that it doesn't break. Lot of tough people out here on the Grand Line."

"As for _you,_ " Benn states pointedly, giving Luffy a stern look, "We're going to need to work on your aim. We can't have you bouncing off the ship or smacking random people because you're terrible at punching."

"Hey!" Luffy shouts indignantly, only to be silenced by simultaneous snorts from his brothers.

"We've been trying to tell you that for months now..." Ace mutters irritably.

"I'm not that bad," Luffy argues.

"Luffy, Kincaid had to fish you out of the water _three times now_ because your punches launched you into the ocean," Sabo deadpans, "I think you could work on them a little."

The boy pouts, " _Fine._ "

He attempts to situate himself properly, trying to perfect his stance so that he may practice his punching. He pulls his arm back, but Shanks catches it the second he steps out of the cabin, the momentum of the movement tugging Luffy back with a yelp.

"I think _inside_ is the best place to practice that move," Shanks says, voice stern, wearing an exhausted look fitting of an exasperated parent with children who are more trouble than they're worth but still believe they're worth _something_.

Seriously, it hasn't even been a week, and the boy's already been testing his blood pressure.

Sabo and Ace snort again before they realign themselves into their own stances. The spar picks back up and Shanks scrutinizes Ace when he realizes the boy keeps favoring his left arm - the arm with the elbow brace. Shanks has notices him doing so for the past couple of days, but whatever is wrong never seemed to hinder him, not even in a spar, so he let it go. However, it seems that it's getting worse if him slowing down a bit in the spar is any indication.

It's when Ace gets knocked down by one of Sabo's swings that he decides to intervene.

"Ah!" Sabo yelps in surprise when Ace goes down, clutching his braced elbow despite Sabo's swing catching his right shoulder. He helps Ace stand just as Shanks steps before them, eyes narrowed in on Ace's elbow brace.

"So, what happened there?" Shanks asks.

"Oh, it was a few months after I met Ace," Sabo answers, "One of the big boar we were hunting got the better of him and knocked him down a ravine. The bandits have a doctor, but he's not a professional and they don't have much supplies - they're not exactly wealthy - and so we couldn't do much about it. But, not doing anything about it caused it to heal wrong, so it hurts sometimes."

"And the brace?"

Sabo grins brightly, "Oh, yeah, we snuck into the doctor's office in Edge Town and stole it."

Shanks blinks, expression going completely deadpan, and he's quite certain his thoughts are shared by the rest the of crew, "You... stole from a doctor's office..."

"Yeah," Ace shrugs, uncaring, "The bandits taught me how and I showed Sabo so he could help."

"They taught you... how to steal from doctors...?"

"They're pretty good teachers, we didn't get caught at all," Sabo states, grin firmly held in place. Shanks feels like the boy knows exactly what has him stumped and is taking pleasure out of it. That grin is far too insidiously innocent for him to _not_ know what's going in through Shanks' head.

"And... the arm...?" Shanks dreads to ask.

"What about it?" Ace blinks.

"Nothing else was done about it?" Shanks asks, "I mean, it looks like it's starting to bother you."

"So?" Ace asks, and Shanks slumps over a little when he realizes that the boy's voice is genuinely confused. A quick glance at Luffy and Sabo shows that they are equally unsure of the problem, and Shanks sighs through his nose.

"If a wound of any kind is bothering you, it could hinder you in battle, which is _bad_ ," Shanks explains slowly, "So, why don't we get the arm looked at, yes?"

"Why?" Ace grunts, crossing his arms, and Shanks blinks when he realizes that the boy doesn't look bothered at all, which implies that he's gotten so used to the pain he can outright ignore it. But, that also means that the pain is constant and, if it's bothering him now, getting worse, and Shanks can't exactly tolerate that, "My arm's fine. It just aches every once in a while."

Shanks huffs in exasperation, throwing up his arm, "Okay, new rule! _Any_ injury, whether there is blood, a bruise, a tiny little _splinter_ , or a _stubbed fucking toe_ , we go the to the doctor! Okay? So, go to the doctor, _please_."

"Fine," Ace scoffs, rolling eyes, but he complies, making his way past Shanks toward the doors that lead into the ships lower levels.

Sabo and Luffy snicker at Shanks' dumbstruck look. The man is clearly unused to experiencing attitude of any kind. They suppose they should take at least some pity on him; Ace's attitude is most certainly not for beginners.

Shanks sighs again.

He's doing a terrible job at this dad thing, and he _needs_ to get better, otherwise he owes Benn 400 beli!

 _Bonding Attempt #2: Failure_

* * *

 _Interlude, Benn's First Bonding Attempt:_

"Ace's arm is better?" Benn asks, eyes concentrated on the dagger he is sharpening. Sabo sits next to him, staring at the collection of daggers in the box next to Benn's other side. They are of several different shapes and sizes, but each of them have in common a lack of handle of any kind.

"Yeah," Sabo shrugs, blinking when Benn sets the dagger aside in favor of grabbing a new, "His brace was just getting too small, so he needed a new one. I guess that makes sense; we had gotten that last brace a couple years ago."

"So, you and Ace knew each other a while, then?" Benn mutters, never once looking up from his work.

"I ran away from home when I was six," Sabo answers, "He had been going through all the stuff in the Grey Terminal for a while by then, so he found me pretty fast. He didn't like me at first, but he doesn't like anybody at first, so it was fine. I think it was when we started going through all the junk together that we started talking."

"So, about four or five years, then?" Benn asks, "How old are you now?"

"I'm still ten," Sabo says, "But, Ace turned eleven last month. Which, I guess answers the question of which one of us is older..."

Benn grunts in answer, once again setting his dagger aside in favor of a new one.

"What are those daggers for?" Sabo asks curiously.

"They're throwing knives," Benn answers, "Marksmanship doesn't have to be limited to guns, and there's always a chance a fight could go on for so long I run out of bullets."

"Really?" Sabo's eyes spark with interest before a grin takes up his face, "Could you teach me? I've been wanting to try out something other than my pipe. Besides, Yasopp's still working on that new pipe for me, and I need to practice with something."

"You wanna learn knife throwing, huh?" Benn mutters, "I don't see why not."

In the background, Shanks' brow twitches.

What the hell? Why does _Benn_ get it on the first try!?

 _Interlude, Benn's First Bonding Attempt: Immediate Success!_

* * *

 _Bonding Attempt #3:_

During their first bout of the New World's insane weather, the boys handle it much better than one would expect from children who have never left the East Blue before. The boys had been cleaning the deck as a part of their morning chores when the sky avalanche decided to make an appearance. Luckily, their navigator had let everyone know that they would be near a winter island soon, so everyone had been dressed appropriately when it happened.

"Luffy, we've been over this," Shanks sighs, "You can't step on the spots you just mopped. It'll leave footprints."

"Oh," Luffy blinks, staring at the large trail of footprints he's already left behind, "Oops."

"Oops," Shanks mocks.

"I'll get it," Sabo sighs. It's when he steps toward Luffy that the boat rocks. The boys jerk, unlike the rest of the crew who are far too used to it to lose their balance, but they manage to stay standing. The sky darkens almost immediately, and everyone glances up in time to see the dark clouds open up and release a volley of thick snow. The navigator does what he can to avoid it, but most of the avalanche lands right on the boat, covering it in a thick layer of snow.

Shanks immediately turns his attention to the boys to make sure they're fine, and he jerks when he notices that they are out of sight, completely buried under the snow on deck. He and Lucky Roo make a move to dig them out, but they immediately stop when the boys' head pop out.

"Boys, are you-"

Shanks' words of worry are cut off when the three burst out laughing. It's a joyful laugh that he's yet to hear from Ace or even Sabo, and he halts his movements toward them to listen for a moment.

"That was awesome!" Sabo laughs, picking up a bit of the snow, "It's never snowed back on Dawn... what was that?"

"That was a sky avalanche," Shanks answers, "You've never seen snow before, huh?"

"No," Ace answers. He looks thoughtful for a brief moment before a smirk lights up his features, and he grabs a handful of snow before tossing it right at Sabo. The boy looks over at Ace right in time to receive a face full of snow.

There's a brief pause before Sabo snorts in laughter, shaking the snow off of his face and tossing his own handful at Ace. The boy ducks, and the ball of snow soars over his head and smacks right into Luffy. The war is on now, and suddenly the boys are running around on deck tossing snowballs left and right. It would adorable if it weren't so violent, Shanks decides. Their physical strength is something else, and he feels like if they hit anyone else but each other, they'd be in a world of hurt.

The boys make use of their experience in the forest, and Shanks can't help but laugh at the sight of all the unfortunate souls that get caught up in their game, being used as either makeshift shields or stepping stones. The men who get caught up in it get knocked over quite quickly, and they remain on the floor, groaning in both pain and defeat. It seems they would rather stay on the ground than get caught up in the game all over again.

Suddenly, a stray snowball soars over Shanks and smacks right into Benn, and all movements on deck completely stop. Benn's attempt at cleaning his gun stops as the snow slowly slides from his face and onto the ground, revealing the glower that has made its way onto his features.

"Oops," Luffy mutters.

Shanks snorts once before he releases a full blown, belly deep laughter, finger pointing at Benn as he takes pleasure in the sight. Benn snorts irritably in return before he calmly sets his gun aside, grabs a handful of snow from the ground, and tosses it at Shanks' face hard enough to knock the man right over.

Shanks reacts immediately by grabbing his own handful of snow and tossing it toward Lucky Roo, who tosses his own at Kincaid. Suddenly, everyone's caught up in the war and the deck is even messier than it had been before the boys even started cleaning this morning, but that's fine. This is everyone's mess, so they can help them clean it later.

"Shanks!"

Shanks glances over at the call of his name, only to receive three snowballs to face at once. He goes down with a grunt of surprise, sighing when he hears childish laughter slip by him as the boys run past him to join the rest of the crew's little battle.

He snorts. Well, he'll consider this moment a success.

Even if they did single him out and throw their balls much harder than necessary during the entire battle _(but, that just means they like him best... right?)_.

And hey, at least he answered his musings. He _is_ in a world of hurt.

Lots and lots of hurt.

 _Bonding Attempt #3: Success!... Kind of...!_

* * *

 _Bonding Attempt #4:_

Shanks stands next to Benn, watching the boys go over their studying material together. He came into watch them only a few minutes ago, and it seems they're nearly done. However, what has Shanks concerned is the way they're going about it. It's fine to help each other, but it almost looks as if Sabo's doing all the work. What's more concerning is the rate Ace is reading at. Sabo is clearly the strongest reader of the three, probably read up on many things during his time as a Noble, but even _Luffy_ of all people looks more interested in his book than Ace.

And if Luffy, with his attention span of a squirrel, is better at studying than Ace, then that's enough reason to be concerned, yes?

He has a good idea of why Ace appears uninterested in his book, noticing the way the boy's brows furrow in frustration, eyes trembling as they jerk over the page. He startles the boy when he pulls out a chair next to him, taking a seat. He ignores the _(shudder inducing Captain-like)_ glare thrown his way and takes Ace's book and flips it to a short chapter. He sets it in front of him.

"Read that page for me," Shanks orders.

Ace blinks in surprise before his brows furrow into a glare, gritting his teeth as he stares down at the page. There's silence, uncomfortable, for several long minutes as Ace stares down at the page, avoiding everyone's eyes completely. Shanks spares a quick glance toward Sabo and Luffy, and finds that they're both staring at Ace in concern, Sabo biting his lip nervously. Probably waiting for an explosion of some kind.

"Can't read?" Shanks asks quietly.

"..."

"Eh..." Sabo interrupts, voice quiet, "I was taught by a tutor. Miss Makino taught Luffy. But, Ace grew up with the bandits, so..."

"You were never taught?" Shanks asks, keeping his eyes on Ace. The boy is trembling, and from the way his glare keeps hardening with the words being spoken over his head, Shanks can only assume it's in anger. He wonders if his inability to read has been the butt of any jokes; Ace seems rather sensitive about it.

"That's fine," Shanks shrugs, "Never too late to learn anything. Know any words?"

Ace blinks in surprise, glare fading. He gives Shanks a hesitant, almost judging look, and Shanks realizes that he's not yet earned the boy's trust. More than likely, the only people who know about the boy's illiteracy are Sabo, Luffy, and Miss Makino. Ace can only learn so much from the few times he visited Makino, and Sabo, a child himself, can only teach so much.

"We'll start with this chapter," Shanks says, grinning lightly, "Try to read me the first paragraph."

Ace hesitates for a moment before licking his lips and looking down at the page in front of him, "Um... T-The Fir-First... Qu-Que-...Qu-"

"Queen," Shanks interrupts gently.

"The First Queen of Al-Ala-"

"That's Alabastia, and that's not your fault. Not exactly an easy word to start out with."

"The First Queen of Alabastia was known for her ch-char-ri-rit-ties..."

Shanks holds back a grin when Ace glances up at him for clarification, and he gives a small nod, "Right. Good."

He feels Benn's eyes on him _(see, Benn? he's totally good at this dad thing!)_ , but he ignores him for now, and he spares Sabo and Luffy a glance as Ace turns his attention back to his book. He has to contain himself when he sees them grinning at him almost delightedly, a hint of pride in their features. He wonders why it's so magnificent to them that he's helping Ace learn to read, but he feels like if he knows the answer, he'll find himself a bit upset or even angry on their behalf, so he turns back to Ace as the boy continues to sound out his words, helping him out with he stumbles every so often.

He feels giddy, and he's not entirely sure why. Surely bonding with the boys would make him happy, but not to this extent, right? He supposes that there's just something about them that makes bonding with them feel like one's biggest accomplishment in life.

He feels great, so he just won't question it.

 _Bonding Attempt #4: Success!... Finally!_

* * *

"He knew that man, Sabo," Ace mutters as he scrubs as the oak more violently than necessary, a grimace working its way onto his features, "That man was his _teacher_ , but he's... he's not bad, so what am I s'posed to do?"

The Red Force is a large ship, filled with more luxuries than any ship Sabo has read about. One of those luxuries includes a rather large library, located in the ships lower levels; Sabo thinks it might be put there to prevent any important books from being stolen. The shelves are tall, and they have panels that slide to cover the books; probably to prevent the books from flying everywhere during rough weather.

Sabo spares Ace a glance, and he takes note of the way his brother hunches in on himself as he cleans; a position he tends to take up when he feels insecure and wants to hide it. Sabo knows it's because Ace isn't quite sure how to react to people who knew his father, who see the man as more than just the Pirate King that terrorized the seas, especially when those people are kind to him _("He's teaching me to_ read _, Sabo!")_. Because he grew up hearing nothing about his father but the horrible things he's done and how he deserved death and how everyone who is related to him in any way, whether through blood or friendship, deserves much worse.

Sabo wants to tell Ace that he shouldn't hate his father because of what other people say about him, but at the same time Sabo knows that Ace has always been curious about Roger - even if he tries to hide it - and the only thing he has to go off of to make some kind of picture of the man is the horrible things people tell him, so what else is Ace supposed to think? It's a mean cycle; Ace hates his father because he left his mother behind and because of the things he's heard from those drunken idiots back on Goa _(Sabo's going to find those men one day, and he's going to show them_ exactly _how he feels about them telling his brother he deserves nothing but death)_ , but he still wants to know about the man his mother loved _(because if his mother loved him, then there must be_ something _good about him)_ , but he only gets told more horrible things, which ends up feeding into Ace's hatred.

"What if he only took us in because he knew him?" Ace continues, oblivious to Sabo's spiraling thoughts and the blonde's increasing frustration and anger at the world for the way it treated Ace, "What if me being his son is the only thing that matters to him?"

"But, he knew Luffy for a long time," Sabo says, filing away more books after giving their titles a curious glance, "I'm sure Luffy being in danger was a big part of it, too."

"But me being his son was also a part of it," Ace says, tone blank.

"Probably," Sabo says, "But... that doesn't have to be a bad thing, does it?"

Ace gives him a questioning look, and Sabo has to hold back a wince at the veiled desperation in his brother's eyes.

"I mean... you'll have a chance to learn more about Roger, right?" Sabo tries, "And, he'll get to know you, too. Besides, I don't he much cares about bloodlines; I think he was just curious about his captain's son, but is still willing to see you as your own person and get to know you as more than just 'Roger's son'. Honestly, I think he cares more about us being Luffy's brothers than he cares about our blood."

Ace pauses in his movements, heaving a sigh through his nose and giving Sabo a bit of a defeated look.

Sabo only gives him an encouraging smile back, "I think it's best if you talked to him about it. I don't think he's a bad guy; Luffy really likes him, and he cares about Luffy a lot, too; he even gave up his _arm_ for him. I think it's best we give him a chance. We may regret it later if we don't. Besides, he's been nice to us so far - he even helps you read."

Which, really shouldn't be that much of a big deal, but considering the way Ace grew up, it is. Sabo knows that Ace's illiteracy is a sensitive topic - also because of those idiots at the bar. Sabo remembers it had been just a little after he had met Ace and he decided to help him learn. Their chosen spot for practicing had been a little too close to the bar, though, and when those men walked past them and saw them... Sabo seriously wants to punch them down one day. Then again, Ace already beat them down pretty well that day; it was one of the few times Sabo had seen Ace well and truly pissed rather than just annoyed.

Ace stares at him for another moment before giving a surprisingly meek nod, and Sabo grins back until Ace attempts his own smile. He holds up the book in his arms that caught his attention, being sure that can easily catch the title.

"Look," He says, "It's a book on Devil Fruits. I bet if we can find Luffy's in here, we can help him control his a little better."

Ace tilts his head curiously as Sabo flips through the pages. He sets his small rag aside before settling into the space next to Sabo, looking down at the pages. He's still not so good at reading just yet, so it's hard for him to catch the words as Sabo flips through it. They pass over Luffy's Devil Fruit briefly before deciding that the information is far too vague for it to be of any use to them or Luffy before they continue flipping through the book, commenting on the Fruits that catch their attention.

His eyes immediately zero in on the picture of the orange, flaring fruit. He glances at Sabo to see his reaction, and the blonde files his eyes over it briefly before his eyes sober up and he skims past it quickly. He tries to distract by commenting on other Fruits, but Ace barely hears, his thoughts going out to that bright orange fruit.

He wonders, if he became fire, would his brothers still be scared?

* * *

"Shanks... Shanks... _Shanks_!"

Shanks snorts awake, and he groans when the partial light of the still rising sun hits his eyes. He glances around his room for the source of the noise before catching sight of Luffy, Ace, and Sabo standing right in front of his bed, gazes locked onto him.

He groans again, "What is it...?"

"Kincaid and Benn are awake, and we want to train," Luffy says.

"You have chores..." Shanks groans out quietly, close to falling right back to sleep.

"We already did them," Sabo says.

"...Mm?" Shanks grunts sleepily, sparing a bleary glance at the clock on his wall, "It's only six thirty, and you did them all...?"

"We wanted to spend the day training, not doing stupid chores," Ace shrugs before outright ordering, "So get up."

Shanks is too tired to contain his shudder. Ace really needs to quit using the Captain Voice that Roger always used; it's very disconcerting. No eleven-year-old should be able to make him feel like a little cabin boy all over again. It's just not right.

"Fine, fine..." He groans again, slowly pushing himself out of bed. He supposes it's for the best; the Captain's supposed to be up before anyone else _(though, to be honest, he never actually is)_. He makes them wait outside _(and he curses that stupid rule he made that they need the Captain's permission to train; the others are perfectly capable of giving them proper permission!)_ while he dresses before he steps out and follows them to the deck. Benn and Kincaid are already there and waiting, and Kincaid tugs on his white gloves and gives Shanks a little smirk when he sees that the man is barely awake. Shanks refrains from giving him a rude gesture - he's had Yasopp on his case enough times about what's appropriate for children and what's not _(even though they're on a goddamn_ pirate ship _and the boys will learn it sooner or later. for god's sake, they were raised by_ bandits _! they know what those words mean!)_.

He watches as the training begins, and he takes note how Sabo shows a special interest in Benn's marksmanship techniques, but not his guns. Rather, he's more fond of the knives than anything else. He also notices how he takes an interest in Kincaid's staff techniques, which is good; swinging around his pipe like a club wouldn't do him any favors; most people don't survive the Grand Line without _some_ finesse in their techniques. He's impressed at how quickly Sabo adjusted to the pipe Yasopp had finished making for him - it resembles his old one quite a bit, but the material is better, sleeker, and the Seastone coating gave it a bit of a sheen - as he knows it is quite a bit heavier than his old one was. His movements are quick and precise, and Shanks is pleasantly surprised at how quickly he picks up on the techniques; almost as if he only needs to watch it once and he can execute it perfectly. Even his marksmanship gets picked up on quite easily, all of his knives have hit the bull's eye, and Shanks can't wait to see what he can do with those knives when he's older.

Ace appears to have abandoned his pipe all together after it broke last week. Shanks had been surprised when he had been more annoyed than upset before deciding to forgo it just like that, even after Yasopp had offered to make him one just like the special one he'd made for Sabo. Shanks understands now that Ace probably made that decision because of his interest in Kincaid's barehanded techniques. Being their martial arts expert, the man had much to teach Ace, who merely brawled rather than throw proper punches and kicks. Again, good as the boy needs more finesse in his movements. After all, instincts are good and well and will most likely keep you alive in the Grand Line, but one still needs the skill to back up those instincts. Shanks is a bit surprised at how agile and flexible the boy proves to be, using his smaller stature against Kincaid and hopping and flipping out of the way when he knows blocking won't work. It appears most of them have underestimated the boy's tactician skills - it seems, especially when it comes to fighting, he can plan things out just as well as Sabo. Perhaps he just doesn't see the point in planning things out even if he has the skills to; Roger's impatience had resulted in the same lack of planning despite the man's skills.

Luffy's skills have seen the most improvement, Shanks decides. Shanks is so thankful that he is one of the few people Luffy stops and _listens_ to. Even if he did have to practically beat the boy into the ground to prove a point about how he can't just go rushing in head first with opponents that are both stronger and bigger than him before the boy would listen to him about his training and studies. His aim has improved tremendously; they no longer have to worry about him bouncing off the ship any longer, at the very least. They've all been helping the boy experiment with his Devil Fruit, something that had apparently been neglected during their time on Dawn; not that Shanks blames them, Devil Fruits aren't exactly common in the Four Blues. He's learned how to control it much better, at the very least, and he no longer stretches at the most random of moments, not involuntarily anyway. At one point, he puffed up like a balloon, something Sabo and Ace seemed to find rather amusing, though they all agreed such a technique would make for a good shield for himself and others, especially with his rubber's immunity to blunt damage. Unless, of course, whatever he's attempting to shield himself from is imbued with Haki.

Shanks really does need to get them started on Haki training. They've been on this ship for a good two and a half months now, but he's been putting it off in hopes of waiting for them to be a bit more open with the crew, Luffy included. Shanks had truly been dismayed to learn that whatever had happened to the boys with those pirates _(Bluejam, is what Garp had called them?)_ , nobles, and Celestial Dragons had caused even Luffy to become far more cautious around people, even the Red-Haired Pirates _(though, some of his caution receded when Shanks began teaching Ace to read, and Shanks is certain there's a story there)_. He wishes he knew what they had gone through in the jungle, but none of them, even Luffy, will open up about it. It's one of the reasons everyone has been so cautious about letting them near anything flammable; Shanks had remembered Dadan's comment about them fearing fire, and the last thing he wants is for them to have a panic attack at the sight of it. He won't even allow him near the kitchens while the chefs are busy, afraid the greasefire might set them off in some way.

He sighs, distractedly dodging one of Luffy's _(well-aimed, he'll admit)_ kicks before it can smack his face. He's learned the hard way not to let any of those boys land a hit on him after Ace managed to do so a few weeks ago. These boys' strength is something else, and he doesn't think his crew will ever let him live down the fact that he had been downed by an eleven-year-old. Even if the kid can punch like a goddamn canon.

The incident occurs out of sheer carelessness. One of his chefs steps out of the storage room near them, a box of matches in hand - the gas stove probably refuses to light again; the shipwrights should really work on that - and he taps a few out onto his hand. He uses his thumb, snapping it over the tip of one to create friction and light it up just as he walks past the boys to head into the kitchens.

Sabo gasps in surprise and falls back quickly. His breathing picks up too quickly, and Shanks knows if something isn't done immediately, he'll make himself pass out. Luffy doesn't fare much better, but he's not panicking, he simply scrambles to hide behind Ace. Ace... doesn't look frightened, but he stares at the little flame with a look in his eyes Shanks can't quite place.

His chef is quick to recognize the problem and immediately waves the flame out. He reacts just as fast as the others, scrambling towards Sabo and shoving the boy's head between his knees. Shanks holds his arm out when Ace and Luffy make a move to help, wanting to prevent them from crowding him as that's a terrible move to make when one his hyperventilating.

"Sabo," Shanks says firmly, feeling Ace clutching onto his outstretched arm tightly, ignoring the nails digging in, "Sabo, you need to calm down. The fire's gone, you're here with us, you're safe. Just breathe for me."

It takes a little longer than Shanks is comfortable with, but Sabo eventually gains control of his breathing, though that control is a bit shaky at best.

"I'm sorry," He gasps out, "Sorry."

"It's not your fault, Sabo," His chef says, "I should have been more considerate. We were told you had a bad run-in with fire, but I was still careless."

"But, I mean..." Sabo stammers, eyes finding their way over to the scattered matches the chef had carelessly tossed aside when reaching out to him, "It's just a little match fire..."

"Shut up," Ace's voice is firm, brows furrowed into a glower of worry and frustration, "You were in an _explosion_. Of course you're afraid of fire. There's nothing wrong with that."

"Yeah!" Luffy chimes in, "But it's okay, 'cuz Ace saved us from the fires, right? So, if Ace is here, the fire can't hurt us, right? 'Cuz Ace will save us from it!""

Shanks covers his mouth with his hand in an attempt to hide his grin, because he doesn't think the sputtering boy would appreciate it very much if Shanks looks like he's making fun of the flush rising on his face. Sabo manages to crack a small smile, as well, even if it's a bit shaky and he's still attempting to catch his breath.

"I guess Ace did save us both, didn't he?" Sabo murmurs a little, and Ace crosses his arms and glances away, the flush on his cheeks getting a bit deeper. The boy doesn't seem to handle praise very well, Shanks thinks to himself.

Sabo's smile drops, though, eyes flashing toward the scattered matches the chef had dropped in his haste to help, "Will it ever go away...?"

"Can't say," Shanks answers, "It's all up to you. It may be just this once, it may get worse, it may get better... or you're stuck with it forever. Only you can decide if you want to continue living this way or not. If you want to face your fears or live with them."

"That's..." Sabo breathes out before sighing deeply, his breath finally calm, "That's fair..."

"...Why don't we take a break for now?" Shanks suggests, standing from his crouched position, and his chef helps Sabo to his feet, as well, "You might want to take a nap, actually. Panic attacks tend to wear people out."

"Yeah, I think... I think I need one," Sabo states, glancing at Luffy and Ace. Luffy grins wide before snatching Sabo's arm and dragging him toward the cabin door. Ace glances at Shanks, looking contemplative for a moment, but he takes off after Sabo and Luffy before Shanks has a chance to ask.

Shanks watches them leave before sighing heavily, scrubbing his hand over his face harshly. He doesn't know what happened, but something in him wants the chance to make the ones responsible pay, even though he intellectually knows that Garp handled the pirates - and probably even the Nobles considering regular Nobles don't have the same protection from the Government that Celestial Dragons do - and that they would probably never know which Celestial Family had been responsible for Sabo's incident.

He just can't help but feel angry and helpless. Because he cares about these boys, and they're completely traumatized for reasons as ridiculous as a Nobleman's pride, and it frankly pisses him off because he knows there's not much he can do about it, revenge-wise or help-wise. He can only wait for them to get better.

He sighs again.

"I think I'll have a nap of my own..."

* * *

Shanks gets an opportunity to speak with Ace alone that very night, long after everyone has gone to bed and the only ones remaining up are his nightwatch. He himself hasn't gone to bed yet, remaining in the kitchen and pilfering coffee to keep himself awake because he wants to be there should one of the boys shuffle out of their room because of a nightmare about fire. The day had passed by relatively normal after the incident with the matches, though it hadn't stopped anyone from treading carefully, even if Sabo seemed annoyed by the hovering. There had been something about Ace's body language, though, the way the boy had kept glancing at Sabo and Luffy before giving Shanks a contemplative look before going back to whatever he had been doing at the time. Shanks had wanted to speak to him about it, but the boy had returned to his routine of avoiding him like the plague unless he was around Sabo and Luffy.

He sighs, feeling that whatever progress had been made with Ace had suddenly been snatched out from under him, and he doesn't even know why.

It's when he hears shuffling that immediately he pulses his Observation Haki briefly, blinking when he catches a glimpse of Ace above him on the foremast. He furrows his brows, because the glimpse he caught of Ace shows that the boy is quite a ways up _(and, he stops to wonder how the boy managed to climb that quickly without him noticing)_ , and if Ace falls, he won't bounce like Luffy.

He sets his coffee aside and steps out of the cabin. He shoots a quick look at his nightwatch; the Red Force has four masts rather than the usual two, two smaller masts that sit at the very front and the very back of the ship, while the main mast and the foremast sit between them; his nightwatch sits in the crow's nest of the smaller mast at the very front of the ship, and the man merely shrugs before jerking a thumb upward, and Shanks looks up. Ace sits on the main royal yard _*(royal yards are the topmost horizontal bars that the sails stretch across, right below the crow's nests; they are named after the masts, i.e. the main royal yard or the foreroyal yard)*_ , and Shanks immediately makes his way to the ratline ropes to climb his own way up. It had been a challenge, at first, climbing with only one arm, but he had quickly found a way to manage with the amount of time he's been without his left arm. He reaches the top quickly, but Ace doesn't notice him, too concentrated on his task.

He tilts his head curiously, smiling lightly as he watches the boy work, muttering to himself in frustration. Shanks realizes he must've picked this spot on the main mast as it would be difficult for the nightwatch to see what he is doing, even with a telescope to help him. The satchel given to him by Miss Makino has one side of the strap unhooked so that it can be properly tied around the royal yard without worry of the wind making it come loose. It's open, its swaying resulting in the clinking of thick glass resounding over and over. Ace himself has his knees drawn up, feet placed flat on the royal. There's a small tube of nail polish balanced precariously on the royal yard next to him. The boy's toes are separated by some square foam, one foot already neatly painted with a deep red, matching the dark red beaded necklaces the boy's taken to wearing lately.

He's working on his left foot now, it seems, muttering in annoyance each time he accidentally lands some polish on his skin, swiping it away with a small rag. Shanks clears his throat, and Ace snaps his head around to face him. The boy's face takes on a classical look of horror, eyes wide, mouth gaping, face paling considerably before the color returns just as quickly. A flush, darker than any flush Shanks has ever seen on him, rises to his face. It's the wet sheen that begins to take over the boy's eyes that causes Shanks to understand that he's terribly embarrassed and that he should probably say something before Ace decides to punch him _(and fuck, he doesn't want to feel how hard that boy can punch ever again)_.

"Y-" Ace stutters, cutting himself off before he shoots Shanks a rather fearsome glare, and Shanks once again has to refrain from shuddering at the boy's Captain-level glare, "What are you _doing_ here!?"

"It's my ship, I can be anywhere I want on it," Shanks shrugs, climbing onto the royal yard and taking a seat next to him, ignoring the glare that gets shot his way, "So, this is what Miss Makino gave you? I did wonder what she meant by you practicing something with her."

Ace blinks at his casual voice, brows furrowing in confusion. He glances at his work before giving Shanks a look of hesitance, "You don't... think it's weird or anything? Sabo and Luffy don't, but they're my brothers so they're supposed to be supportive or something, and Miss Makino's nice to everyone, so I-"

"'Course it's not weird," Shanks grins, cutting him off, "I've painted my toes a couple of times myself."

Ace blinks again, glancing down at the man's feet, shown off by the sandals he always wears, before giving him a dry look. Shanks snorts before explaining, "Miss Rouge liked to pamper herself, you know? Whenever Captain took me 'n Buggy to go see her, she'd make us do it with her. I think she's the one who got Buggy into makeup, to be honest, though I don't think she intended for him to become fascinated by clown makeup, of all things."

"You... knew my mom, too...?" Ace asks quietly, keeping his eyes on his toes.

"Hm," Shanks grunts in affirmation, bending down and snatching a random shade of polish from the open satchel before sitting up right, mumbling, "Now, let's see if I remember how to do this... don't know if I'd be able to do it right with one hand, though. Dahaha!"

Ace stares at him, "You're... going to paint your nails with me...?"

"Yup," Shanks grins, opening up his polish. It's pink, he realizes with a bright grin. Benn's gonna have a migraine when he sees.

"It's pink," Ace mutters, "I don't like pink, but Miss Makino says I should try more colors than just red, but Gramps says my mom always painted her toes red, so I just wanted..."

"I understand," Shanks agrees, sliding some of the polish onto his large right toe; always start with the easy side to practice for the hard side later, that's what Miss Rouge said, "This is your way of feeling close to her, yes?"

"Gramps found a picture of her," Ace says quietly, "I wanted to look like her because I... I don't, I don't want to look like Roger. I thought if I did all the things she did, I'd be more like her. Gramps told me what he knew about her since he stayed with her for a couple days before she went into labor with me; he said she would do stuff to her hair and skin, and she would always paint her nails. I figured if I started doing that myself, I'd look more like she does, right?"

Shanks doesn't comment about Roger, but he can't help but feel a little sad. He doesn't blame Ace, though. Knowing Garp, he probably constantly emphasized that Ace mustn't be seen, that no one should ever know who he is, the he must stay hidden, and though the man had the best of intentions at heart, constantly being told to remain unseen combined with hearing all these rumors about Roger probably made him believe his father had done horrible things. Which, honestly, isn't entirely untrue. No matter how honorable and kind Roger might have been, he was still a pirate, and he could be quite cruel and petty when he was pissed enough. But, he loved his crew and he loved Miss Rouge, and it makes Shanks feel a bit guilty, that he had the chance to feel their warmth while Ace, their actual son, would never get that chance.

"You do look like her," Shanks says, "And it's true that she liked this stuff. It was relaxing for her, you know? It made her happy, playing with her nails and stuff. If that's what you want to do, then that's fine. It's not weird, Ace. There's all kinds of people in the world, and being different doesn't make you weird. If this is something that makes you happy, then I encourage it."

"Yeah...?" Ace asks hesitantly.

"Yeah," Shanks grins.

Ace stares at him for a moment, and Shanks holds his gaze because he feels like this is something important, that Ace is judging him, though he's not sure in what way. Then, Ace glances down at his toes, the polish scrubbed on far messier than Ace's perfectly done nails, and the boy rolls his eyes before finally going back to his unfinished foot.

"You're doing it wrong," He mutters, keeping his gaze on the middle toe he paints, "You're supposed to use the primer first - that's the clear stuff - so the polish doesn't turn your nails yellow."

"This shit turns your nails yellow?" Shanks mutters, giving his toes a scrutinizing look.

"It can stain them..." Ace spares him a glance before his lips twitch, and suddenly the boy is laughing, the first genuine laugh Shanks had heard from him since he stepped foot on this boat two and half months ago. Shanks wants to grin at the sound, but holds back, instead giving him a irritant glare and a pout, succeeding in making him laugh harder.

"You..." Ace gasps, "You're face...!"

"Now that's not nice," Shanks snips playfully, "I'll have you know, I have a rather handsome face!"

Ace snorts, laughter calming down. His face sobers up a little, looking thoughtful, and he begins working on his polish once again.

There's a long comfortable silence as they work. Shanks watches curiously as the boy finishes up his nails before closing the polish and tossing it into the satchel with a loud clink. The boy wiggles his toes a little, almost curiously, before he sighs and rests his arms on his knees.

"I don't hate Roger," He suddenly says, and Shanks blinks in surprise.

"Everyone thinks I hate him because before his name would make me angry, but I really don't hate him," Ace continues, voice quiet, "I can't hate someone I don't know, and if I did hate him, I'd practically be spitting on my mother's memory... because she loved him, so there must be something about him that was good. But I... hate his legacy, and everything it put me through."

Shanks remains quiet, contemplative, because it's quite understandable that the boy would despise the legacy his Captain left behind. There isn't a single person in the world who didn't know the Pirate King's name, and they usually didn't have good things to say about the man. And... this world... tends to put far too much stock into bloodlines. If the Marines that stayed in Batterilla managed to find Ace, what would they have done? The boy would've been murdered in the cradle, in the _womb_. He never would have had a chance to live. Even now, though, Shanks doesn't believe the boy has truly been living.

"Sabo lied, you know," Ace says, "About my arm. I mean, when a kid with silver eyes asks about the Pirate King having a kid, most people would make the connection. I'd always make sure they were drunk, though, too drunk to remember. But, when people are that drunk, they tend to get aggressive, and one of the times I asks, one of the men there grabbed my arm. I think he wrenched it or something. But, Sabo told the truth when he said we never got it looked at. It bothered me, but we didn't think it was that serious until it was too late. It won't heal properly, and all because of some _stupid_ question I asked."

Shanks takes a deep breath through his nose, attempting to calm himself before he did something rash. Who the hell, drunk or not, grabs a child so hard that their arm is permanently damaged? And, for god's sake, is Sabo truly that good of a liar? Not even Shanks' Haki had picked up on anything out of place. That's almost frightening, and Shanks doesn't want to think about why the boy had to learn to lie so well.

"Most people laugh at me when I ask that question," Ace continues, seemingly unaware of Shanks' annoyance at the world, "But, they answer anyway. Roger's kid? He'd be a monster like his daddy. The son of a monster is a monster, you know. That's fine, though, because he'd be killed before he could even _say_ 'Daddy'. Maybe all of his enemies should get a crack at the kid since they could never get to Roger. Maybe he should be locked away in Impel Down before he could even learn what sunlight is. Or maybe he should be drowned because wouldn't _that_ be ironic, the son of the man who ruled the seas being killed by the waters he loved so much. I'm just..."

Ace suddenly sighs, closing his eyes and looking far older than he should, "I'm not angry anymore. I'm just tired. I'm tired of hearing about Roger and how much the world hates his blood."

"... So, you try not to look like him anymore," Shanks murmurs, "Because you don't want anyone to be able to make the connection."

"I'm also tired of hearing all the creative ways I should be killed," Ace snips back, leaning towards his satchel and snatching out a tube of clear polish. He begins putting a coat of it over the now dried red polish. He doesn't speak as he works, giving Shanks a chance to think over everything that's been said to him. He understands now, Ace's true feelings. When the whole world hates you, even if you know intellectually that you've done nothing wrong, it's hard not to wonder.

 _Do I even have the right to be alive?_

"It's fine," Ace suddenly interrupts his thoughts, "Because I'm not gonna live under Roger's shadow for the rest of my life. I'm gonna live one day. And I'm gonna live more free than anyone."

Shanks blinks in surprise at the statement, a suddenly memory surfacing.

 _"That's your dream, Captain?"_

 _"It's why I set sail in the first place! The world is so much bigger than my little hometown, and I wanted to see it all, to live my life to fullest! More free than anyone!"_

Shanks can't hold back a smirk, "That's an excellent dream."

Ace shoots him a raised brow before he gains that contemplative look he's been shooting Shanks all day, "Say... You said you encourage me to do things that make me happy?"

"Of course," Shanks agrees readily.

"So, if... I wanted... a Devil Fruit," Ace begins hesitantly, and Shanks' attention immediately snaps onto those two words, "Would you help me get it?"

"A Devil Fruit?" Shanks asks, voice more firm and serious than before, "What would you want with a Devil Fruit?"

"I just..." Ace murmurs, "Sabo and I found this book and Devil Fruits in your library and... Luffy and Sabo don't want to be scared of fire anymore. _I_ don't want to be scared anymore. So I figured if... I _became_ fire... they wouldn't have to feel so scared anymore."

Shanks thinks it over. Logia Fruits are powerful, very powerful in the right hands, and rare. Giving such a Fruit to one as young as Ace might not be such a well-received idea amongst his crew, but... When he thinks over Ace's intentions, such honorable intentions, it's hard to say no. There's always a chance that Sabo is so traumatized that he'd avoid Ace completely once he finds out he is fire itself, but Shanks could never believe that would truly happen. If anything, Sabo would force himself to face his fears because the last thing he would ever want to do is leave Ace behind. Beyond that, Sabo and Luffy see Ace as some sort of protector; because Ace was there during each of their bad run-ins with fire, pulling them to safety, that Ace becoming fire itself would only reinforce the idea that fire cannot hurt them so long as Ace is with them, that fire isn't something to fear any longer.

Shanks grins.

"Ah," Shanks murmurs, "The Mera Mera no Mi... Logia are quite powerful - in the right hands, they can even be unstoppable - and rare. Finding one could take a long time..."

Ace's attention snaps to him so quickly - Shanks holds back a wince when he hears a light creaking come from the boy's neck - he can't help but laugh outright.

"Dahahaha! Thought I'd deny you?"

"Well, I..." Ace mumbles, cheeks reddened, "Shut up! I just didn't expect you to agree so quickly! I mean, it's a powerful Fruit, right? You just said!"

"It is a powerful Fruit," Shanks agrees, "And I can't guarantee no one in my crew will have a problem with someone as young you gaining such a power, but fuck 'em."

Ace blinks, completely caught off guard by the statement, "But... shouldn't the Captain listen their crew's opinion...?"

"A Captain should always take their crew's opinion into account," Shanks says, "If the crew is privy to everything that's happening. But, right now, this is a conversation between you and me. Not you, me, and the crew. It's a private conversation that they're not privy to, so if they have any complaints, they won't matter because they don't know the full story behind my decision. Besides that, I'm the Captain and, unless one of my decisions puts my crew in unnecessary danger, then they listen to me. My word is law. Get it? I may not be a strict Captain, but I do expect my orders to be respected. If I want you to have that Fruit, then you're going to get that Fruit."

"You'll really find it for me...?" Ace asks, voice hesitant.

"I will," He grins.

They sit in a comfortable silence after that, and Shanks is so happy that he's finally made some progress with Ace, he wouldn't be surprised if sparkles flew around him to shower them both. He watches the boy finish up with the clear nail polish _(Miss Makino said it makes it harder for them to chip or something)_ before closing it and tossing it back into the satchel, keeping his knees draw up so that his toes can properly dry.

The silence is comfortable enough for Shanks to feel it's time to speak to the boy about his Haki; because he needs to start training Ace's Conqueror's Haki, as well as start all three of the boys on Observation and Armament training.

"So, Garp told me something interesting before we left," Shanks says, and Ace turns his attention onto him, "That you did something during the fire when the pirates took you and Luffy. Can you tell me about it?"

Ace's brows furrow, and he looks down at his feet thoughtfully, "I don't know what it was... Bluejam and his crew kidnapped me and Luffy, and they were hurting Luffy. He had started bleeding and he was crying, and I just got... angry. And then they all passed out. 'Cept for Bluejam and Luffy, anyway... it sounds crazy, but..."

"It's not crazy," Shanks shrugs, "I can do it, too, you know."

Ace looks back up at him, eyes hopeful, "So... you can teach me about it...? So I don't do it on accident again? Because I'm scared that... if I do it again and it's stronger, then-"

"You'll hurt Luffy and Sabo," Shanks finishes for him, and Ace nods meekly, "That's a very real possibility, Ace. Having that kind of power, untrained, can result in some very real danger. And I know you don't want that. It's why I'm gonna start teaching you about it, 'kay? I'm gonna give you and your brothers a break tomorrow because of Sabo's panic attack, but the day after, I'm gonna start you three on some special training so you can learn more about that power. Right now, it looks like you're the only one who has it awake, so you and I will be having some one-on-one lessons for a while, as well. Sound good?"

"Mm," Ace hums in affirmative.

"You really do look like Miss Rouge, Ace," Shanks suddenly states, "Especially with all the work you've been putting into it. You like doing it, too, so keep it up, right?"

They're quiet after that, another comfortable silence taking hold, and they sit together for a good hour before Shanks sends him off to bed with another encouragement about not being embarrassed by his quirks and to not care about what others think of a such a thing. Lots of people do it, after all, just look at Shanks' bright pink nails!

Shanks himself head back to his captain's cabin, feeling the weight that had settled into him during Sabo's panic attack lift completely. It's when he's lying in bed that he becomes curious, and he pulls out the list Makino had given him for Ace. He grins at the list of nail, hair, and skin products - he doesn't see any sign of makeup products or clothing, so Shanks can only assume Ace isn't interested in such a thing - and he makes a mental note to retrieve everything on the list for the boy the next island they stop on. Ace, it seems, by attempting to emulate his mother to feel closer to her had picked up on her habit of pampering. That's fine, Shanks decides.

He's just glad he's finally made some progress.

...

Benn owes him beli, he is _so_ good at this dad thing!

* * *

 _*The next morning*_

"Captain..."

"Yes, Benn?"

"...Your toenails are pink."

A bright grin, "Why, yes, Benn, they are!"

"..."

"..."

Benn sighs, rubbing at his forehead.

He won't ask. He doesn't need the headache.

* * *

 **To be perfectly clear, Ace ONLY paints his toenails, which is why I said that this is a background thing since he tends to wear shoes that cover his toes - it'll hardly ever be seen beyond a few scenes. Like I said, this is just my own way of emulating that fanart, as well as a nod to my brother. Like I said above, my brother is, like, super manly manly, but he does pamper himself and he even paints his toenails. His girlfriend loves it, too; she picks out colors for him all the time. It's great :)**

 **But, like I've been saying, he's only going to pamper himself and nothing more, so... yeah. I hope this goes over well with everyone... heh *nervous laugh*.**

 **The next chapter is going to be the final ASL prologue. After the next chapter, we'll move onto Usopp's prologue! Which, will feature ASL since they pretty much live with his father, so... but, yay, Usopp!**

 **Also, about my posting schedule - I don't have one. I'm going to update randomly when I can, so... hope that's okay.**


	3. Prologue 1 Part 3

**Oh, my goodness this chapter was hard to write! I am terrible at action scenes, no matter how short or un-epic they are, so.. be prepared for terrible action in this chapter!**

 **Also, the responses I got to Ace's little quirk have been amazingly kind and I thank you all for that :)**

 **So, this is the final ASL chapter! Next will be Usopp's prologue, which is only going to be one chapter. Actually, after this chapter, all the prologue chapters will be in one-shot form, featuring quite a few time-skips, going over the changes made in the lives of the characters featured in said prologue. So, next chapter is Usopp, and the chapter after is Zoro and Sanji's prologue, followed by Nami and Koala, and finally Law, so look forward to that :)**

 **Afterwards, there will be an interlude chapter featuring MarcoAce, then we'll get into the _One Piece_ plot and how it changes due to the new circumstances of how the characters grew up.**

* * *

 **Prologue 1 Part 3: Haki and Devil Fruits**

...

Ace appears much more open afterwards; his grin is more genuine and he actually speaks more than two words to people who aren't his brothers. The crew, of course, is quick to take notice and advantage, and the men spend the boys' day off doing what they can to get close to Ace in the same way they have all gotten close to Luffy and Sabo. Ace is surprisingly shy under all the attention, but he handles it better than Shanks would expect him to, and he allows the crew to tug him back and forth; he even appears amused by it to a certain extent.

Sabo and Luffy catch on quickly, though, and they drag him all around deck to their favorite spots and their favorite people. And Shanks is glad, because he hasn't seen Ace so care free since he joined this crew. He gives them their space as they work on getting Ace more settled in. He wants Ace to understand that everyone on this crew, not just him or Benn, will listen and understand and accept.

And then the day is over, and he wakes them bright and early for Haki training.

He clears the stern of the deck, keeping it to himself and the boys during this day to avoid any... problems.

"Let's get started," Shanks says, sitting on a barrel in front of them, "Haki... is a little hard to describe. It's both one's lifeforce and their willpower. Everyone has it, but not everyone it capable of using it. Haki can be used in many ways, though those ways are often divided into three categories. Observation Haki allows you sense living things around you, get a glimpse of where they are even though you're nowhere near them... some people have been known to be able to hear conversations they shouldn't be able to through Observation; it's best use, though, is the ability to sense or even outright see what your opponent's going to do before they even do it. Follow me so far?"

They nod, Luffy as well, as surprising as others may find it; the boy can pick up on a lot more than people give him credit for, though it's usually only toward things that interest him. Fighting, Shanks knows, is definitely one of those interests.

"Armament Haki is sort of like a shield, though it can be used for more than that," He continues, "It can defend you from anything that would otherwise cause you harm or it can be used to increase your own physical strength; make you run faster, make you hit harder. It's best used against Devil Fruit users; it can bypass any of their powers. It can hit Logia, despite their ability to go intangible, it make can punches against Luffy hurt despite his Devil Fruit protecting him from blunt damage."

"Ah!" Sabo yelps in understanding, "That's what Garp uses on us!"

"Shitty Gramps..." Ace mutters irritably, "He didn't have to do it on us... we don't have Devil Fruits..."

"That's how Gramps' hits hurt?" Luffy asks, "Can I do it even though I have a Devil Fruit?"

"Sure," Shanks shrugs, "It doesn't really affect the user, whether they have a Fruit or not. Some people I've met have learned how to combine it with their power; it can be implemented onto weapons, too. Armament might be pretty useful for you, Luffy."

"Yeah?" Luffy grins.

"Wait," Sabo interrupts, "But, what about the third one?"

"The third one is called Conqueror's Haki," Shanks answers, though he focuses more on Ace as he says it, and the boy picks up on it, "It can't be unlocked through training. That one's unique because you're either born with it or you're not. Conqueror's Haki, at its core, is the ability to overpower the will of all things. It can knock people unconscious, it can send them to their knees, it can intimidate them to the point that they can't move an inch... it all really depends on how much pressure you put into it. It can even intimidate or outright tame wild animals. It's what I did to that Sea King that attacked us back on Dawn, Luffy."

"That's what you did?" Luffy blinks.

"So, you have it?" Sabo asks, "If not everyone can get it, how common is it?"

"Not very," Shanks shrugs, keeping his gaze on Ace, "Only about every one in one thousandth person has it. It's said that it's proof one has the qualities of a king. That's why it's also called King's Disposition."

He ignores the way Ace stiffens up the second the word "king" leaves his mouth.

"Alright!" Shanks grins, "We'll start working on Observation, first! That's the easiest to unlock."

"How do we unlock it?" Sabo tilts his head curiously, and Shanks gives him a beaming grin.

"We'll start with blindfolds!"

"...Blind...folds...?"

"I'll blindfold you, and you'll try to dodge me," Shanks grins, "We'll keep on doing that until you can do it _flawlessly_."

They groan helplessly, and Shanks laughs at them in response. He wonders if Rayleigh felt this gleeful when he taught him; their reactions are hilarious! It's probably why Rayleigh is such a monster when it came to teaching him; the man probably got far more entertainment out of it than he should have.

It's fine; he won't toss them to Sea Kings like Rayleigh did to him and Buggy.

"Worse than Gramps," Ace mutters.

* * *

It's late at night when Shanks and Ace begin working on Conqueror's Haki, the ship docked near an uninhabited island known for its unusual animals. They leave the ship in one of their rafts and take to the island alone, the only ones in the know Benn and whoever happens to be on nightwatch.

"You said you used it when you were angry, which is fine," Shanks says as they walk through the thick forest, "It's normal to unlock Haki of any kind during moments of stress. But, it can't stay that way, because you could accidentally use it on someone you care for. Learning control is difficult, but it will come to you."

"And how do I do that?" Ace asks, and they come to a stop.

"When I was first learning, my teacher told me that the Haki can be felt," Shanks says, "Though, he never truly explained what it felt like; said because no one is the same, so no one's Haki would be the same, either. It's how Observation locks onto everyone, because they all feel different. But, anyway, you have to concentrate, focus on you before you focus on anything else, and try to find that pressure inside you. Try to increase it, try to push out into the open with you, make it so that the world can feel it."

Shanks remains as still as he can as he watches the boy close his eyes, brows furrowed in concentration. The last thing Ace needs is distractions; with how volatile untrained King's Disposition is, that could end disastrously for both of them.

Ace does as he's told and he tries to focus on himself as much as he can. He doesn't know how long it takes for him to find that feeling, but it's long enough for him to begin to get frustrated. The frustration, he thinks, might start to break his concentration, but he doesn't stop trying. It feels like hours before something in him sparks to life. His first instinct is to recoil, because that pressure feels far too much like something smoldering, like a fire waiting to happen. He manages to catch himself on time, keeping his concentration, because he realizes that this fire isn't hurting him, that it feels almost familiar, and he realizes that this must be what his Haki feels like.

He turns his focus onto increasing the pressure like Shanks told him to. It almost reminds him of restarting a campfire, how one would blow onto the smoldering embers to breathe the fire back to life. He fans the flames until the spark ignites, and suddenly the pressure isn't smoldering anymore, it's an inferno that wants to rage across the forest around him.

He nearly jumps out of his skin when a hand lands on his shoulder, and he opens his eyes to stare up at Shanks. The man stares at him for a moment before grinning lightly and jerking his head forward. Ace follows his line of sight, eyes widening in shock at the sight of the boar, almost the size of the trees around it, collapsed on the ground, eyes wide and bearing into Ace's own, as if it can't look away.

How did he not notice something that big coming their way?

"You managed to intimidate it," Shanks grins, voice proud, "I bet if we practice the rest of the night, you can knock a couple of them out. We'll work on taming later, though, that's a bit more difficult."

"Uh huh..." Ace mumbles, voice far away in his shock, eyes remaining on the boar.

He suddenly blinks, glancing up at Shanks, "I did that?"

"Yes," Shanks smiles.

"All on my own?" Ace asks, "You didn't help?"

"Nope," He pops the 'p', grin widening.

"So... I'm getting better?" Ace asks, "Already? I keep doing that, and I won't do it on accident anymore?"

"Just keep practicing," Shanks shrugs, "Even managing to do that on your first try was quite impressive. Keep this up, and your control should be top notch in no time."

Ace suddenly beams, "I did it!? That's great, I- uh-"

He cuts himself off when he notices Shanks' wide-eyed stare - because the boy had never looked so completely open and childish before, even with his newfound willingness to bond with the crew - and he snaps his mouth shut, pursing his lips in embarrassment.

"I mean... this is great, Shanks," He mumbles, cheeks flushing, "I mean Captain... I mean Shanks, err... yeah, Shanks..."

Shanks snorts, bringing up his hand to muffle his snickers as the boy glares at him, face flushing deeper. He feels if he laughs outright, the boy would never show him that open look again, at least not for a long time. He manages to contain himself, shooting the boy another grin.

"Let's practice a couple more times tonight," Shanks says quietly, grin firmly in place, "Then we'll head back to the ship. Sound good?"

"Good," Ace allows himself to grin a little.

They practice on a few more animals before heading back to the ship, and Ace tells Shanks about the feeling of his Haki, that when not in use, it was like flickering ashes and embers, that when he focused on that pressure, it raged and burnt everything around him, that when Shanks pulled him out of it, it felt almost like a calm lightly fluttering flame before flickering out into embers and ashes once more.

"Fire, huh?" Is all Shanks says before he grins brightly, "Well, I guess that just means you were meant to have the Mera Mera no Mi, yeah?"

* * *

It's three months later when they hear word of the Marines based in the West Blue getting their hands on a Logia Fruit. Shanks has the crew sail closer to the West Blue just in case, but refrains from leaving the New World, instead sticking close to the Western Calm Belt. He has Benn look more into it, which takes another week of dodging questions from the boys about where Benn has disappeared to. Benn brings him back news of how the Fruit is bright orange and flaring, how the Marines' research into unveiled its name.

The Mera Mera no Mi is finally in their sights.

They sail toward the West Blue, but they never truly explain to the boys where and why they're going. Shanks contemplates his plan for when they reach the Marine Base. It's true that would be no problem for him at all to simply walk into the Base and take the Fruit himself, but he thinks over the boys and the progress they've made over the past three months and a week since their Haki training has started.

Luffy's improvement is probably the biggest. The boy finally begins to understand the need for a plan _(though, his plans still usually involve just going in and beating up the problem)_ , and he had been working on different ways to make rubber useful beyond stretching for unreachable places or being immune _(to an extent)_ to blunt damage. The boy's been creating all sorts of techniques - Gumo Gumo techniques, he calls them. His fighting style isn't wild and erratic anymore, though, despite its newfound refinery, it's just as unpredictable as ever. His physical strength is improving, as well, which is a bit of a frightening thought considering just how strong he was to begin with. His instincts are remarkable, able to dodge and counterattack with an accuracy one would mistake for Observation if they didn't know he hasn't awoken it yet. Kid's got no qualms about fighting dirty, either, no problems with hitting below the belt, attacking his opponents even if they have their backs turned or are otherwise unprepared or unsuspecting, using opponents as human shields, and even biting people _(the boy even broke skin, Shanks grumbles in his head)_ , which makes it quite easy for him to catch one off guard. Highly adept at improvising, he regularly comes up with creative counterattacks and unusual techniques. He's fast, too, able to skirt around Kincaid and Benn like he's not even trying, and that speed combined with his strength and the uniqueness of his Devil Fruit will turn him into a formidable foe one day. Shanks is going to look forward to that fight in the future.

Sabo's marksmanship skills have become something to brag about amongst the crew. Yasopp even ended up creating a set of knives just for Sabo, a set of pitch black blades that he's found different uses for - long-bladed knives for speed and added lethality, double-bladed knives he's learned to throw like disks, thicker knives that can be used to immobilize foes _(and wasn't that quite a sight, seeing Lucky Roo pinned to the deck by nothing but the boy's blades, his accuracy so deadly he was able to do so while they had both been moving around, dodging each other's attacks)_ , and single-bladed daggers that he's learned to use for a multitude of purposes, and though his eyesight isn't anywhere near as good as Yasopp or Benn's, his aim is impeccable. The new pipe Yasopp made for him, as well, has become quite useful in the boys' hands. While he did have to relearn to wield the pipe - the material much heavier than his former one - his skills remained remarkable, utilizing it as a staff rather than a club like he did before his training with Kincaid. Slashing, swinging, stabbing, striking, using it as a vault or even a prop for hand-to-hand strikes, his staff techniques combined with his raw strength and marksmanship skills make him quite frightening, deadly even.

Ace has taken to Kincaid's lessons quite well - honestly, Shanks is starting to believe these boys are geniuses when it comes to fighting - his movements more refined and his balance perfected. Shanks had been surprised to discover just how _agile_ the boy is, able to execute somersaults and cartwheels, flips, handsprings, able to outmaneuver almost any opponent that's challenged him to a spar and jump exceptionally high and far, even from a stationary position _(then again, Shanks had noticed the boy could jump like a flea even before his training began)_. This, combined with the parkour and free-running skills acquired during his time in the jungle makes him exceptionally hard to land a hit on. His close-range and bare-handed combat skills have become noticeably skillful, and he even caught Kincaid off guard with a shoulder-throw the other day _(it was actually quite funny, now that Shanks thinks about it, considering how much smaller Ace is than the man)_. Like Luffy, his physical strength is increasing, though it's not quite up to Luffy's level - it seems the boy surpassed his older brothers in physical strength, though he still isn't able to actually defeat either of them in a spar. Despite his lack of pipe, though, he's still quite handy with a weapon. He and Sabo seem to alternate between sparring bare-handed and with staffs and pipes, and he wields it just as well as Sabo wields his special pipe - though, his movements and transitions are slower and less smooth than Sabo's own.

All three of them are capable parkour and freerunning practitioners, learned during their time maneuvering throughout the jungle they once lived in - though, Ace, who had grown up in that forest and lived there far longer than the other two, has skills in that particular area of expertise that completely surpass his brothers. All three of them possess immense raw strength - though, as Shanks had previously contemplated, Luffy's strength has surpassed that of his brothers. Their durability is nothing to laugh at either; the three of them can definitely take a hit and just keep going like nothing ever struck them in the first place - Shanks has no doubt that the amount of pure punishment they can take will increase with age.

They haven't awoken their Haki yet, though that's to be expected quite honestly. With how quickly their fighting skills are improving, something has to come difficult for them. Ace's King's Disposition is getting much better, though. He's reached the point where he can not only intimidate the animals, but freeze them in place and even knock them unconscious. They've been working on taming a few, though he's still having a bit of trouble with it. Shanks hasn't started him on other training techniques just yet, as he wants him to be able to tame animals before they try to learn how to focus his Haki onto specific people instead of just knocking out anyone in his way.

As he thinks over their improvements, their strengths and their weaknesses, Shanks thinks it would be okay for them - supervised, of course - to help him break into the Base and steal the Fruit. It would be a good experience for them to say the least.

He grins.

Benn's probably gonna punch him.

"Boys!" He calls out gleefully, "How would you like to join me for a job?"

* * *

"You're gonna let us break into a Marine Base with you!?" Luffy grins excitedly.

"Is this _even_ a good idea...?" Benn mutters somewhere in the background.

Shanks ignores him.

He's pretty good at that.

"Sure!" Shanks grins, "You're gonna be supervised, of course. Me an' Benn'll be watching your backs, and Yasopp's gonna be on the lookout for us, just in case. But, we'll let you do most of the work; we'll only cut in if you really need it. You need some planning experience, anyway..."

"What're we breaking in for?" Sabo asks.

"A Devil Fruit," Shanks grins at the gleam of both understanding and excitement that ignites in Ace's eyes, "I want to get my hands on it. Besides, we don't need the Marines to get their hands on a Logia, anyway."

"A Logia?" Sabo tilts his head curiously, "What do you want it for?"

"Do you want to eat it?" Luffy asks.

"We steal Devil Fruits all the time," Shanks answers, "We sell them depending on what they are. It's true that any Devil Fruit, no matter how ridiculous they seem, can be powerful in a creative person's hands, but we do tend to sell the Paramecia. The Zoan go either way depending on the animal. We like to keep all the Logia we find, though; we don't need them falling into the wrong hands, you know."

"Are we stealing this Fruit because it's a Logia?" Sabo asks, "I read about how powerful they are; and you've been teaching us about them, too..."

"My reasons for wanting this Fruit are secret," Shanks grins, holding a finger over his mouth, "Though, I'm sure you'll learn those reasons soon enough."

He holds out his hand in a silent order, and Benn gives him the map of the Base he managed to procure from the fools that "gave" him the information on the Fruit. He unfolds it, flattening it out and allowing the boys to get a good look at it.

"This is a map of the Base," Shanks states, "The Devil Fruit is being kept in a safe here."

He points to a room on the far left of the map, surprisingly in a place not that deep within the Base. Shanks can only assume it's the Marines way of attempting to fool whoever wishes to steal the Fruit into going too far into the Base to get out of. Too bad they didn't take into account blabber mouths and cowards willing to sell out their own comrades. The Base itself is rather large; like most Bases, there is a wall surrounding it, which will be quite easy for the boys to climb or even outright vault over. The Base spreads out into several hallways and rooms, as well as a mailing room, a cafeteria, a docking space, and, of course, the Captain of the Base's office. While it does span up three floors, the Devil Fruit is only kept on the second, in a storage room down the second hallway one would come across should they enter through the set of stairs within the cafeteria.

"This is your mission," Shanks states, "Come up with a plan based on your own weaknesses and strengths."

Ace and Luffy immediately look to Sabo in response, and Shanks snorts in amusement when the boy shoots them a deadpan look. Sabo sighs through his nose in minor irritation before turning his attention to the map and the location of the Fruit. He tries to go over everything he knows about Luffy and Ace, everything Shanks and Benn taught them about Marine tactics and how most Bases are set up, scratching at his scabbing over burn _(it's peeling off into a scar, and it itches!)_ in thought.

"Um... Well, Luffy could probably use his Fruit to slingshot us over the wall around the Base, but we'd have to find a blind spot to do that. Luffy's really fast and strong, but Ace is better at outmaneuvering people, so either one of them could probably make a good distraction for me to sneak into the room with the Fruit. I mean, we're all good at lockpicking, but I've been doing it longer to sneak out back when I lived with my parents, so I might be able to get into the safe quicker than them. I'd need someone to watch my back in case someone comes after us while I'm trying to get the Fruit... um..."

Sabo trails off, glancing between Luffy and Ace a couple times. Ace quirks a brow in response, but refrains from commenting, crossing his arms as he waits for Sabo to continue.

"I think Luffy would make the better distraction," Sabo finally says, "Even if Ace is better at outmaneuvering people, there's still a chance for him to get caught. I know he could probably fight his way out, but Luffy is physically stronger than both of us, so he'd probably have an easier time at crowd control than Ace. Ace could be my backup - with Luffy as a distraction, Ace can focus more on watching my back than worrying about crowd control, and we've always been pretty good at tag-teaming people. We could meet back up with Luffy, and he can slingshot us back out of the Base without any problems."

"That's your plan?" Shanks grins, and Sabo nods a bit uncertainly, "Dahahaha! Not bad! Needs a bit more detail first, but it should do the trick. Good work, Sabo. Before we do anything else, though, we need to talk about disguises."

"Disguises?" The three blink at once.

"I don't want you getting bounties before you're old enough to set out on your own," Shanks states, "We're going to have to wear masks, as well as remove anything eye-catching. Benn, Yasopp, and I are going to do the same - after all, you're the only kids aboard the Red Force, so if people recognize me, they'll make the connection pretty quickly. I'm going to have cover up my hair..."

"What counts as eye-catching?" Sabo asks.

"Ace's necklaces, your hats," Shanks grins at the indignant squawk Luffy releases, "Your scars and tooth, Luffy's scar, and Ace's freckles could be considered identifying marks, but there's not much we can do about that beyond the masks."

"I can't wear my hat?" Luffy whines.

"No," Shanks deadpans.

Luffy huffs, and Shanks grins victoriously when the boy sulkily removes the accessory.

* * *

They dock the Red Force relatively far away from the island the Base resides on, keeping it hidden from the Marines' view. Shanks, Benn, Yasopp, and the boys row to the island on one of their rafts, away from the town in a more forested area.

Shanks sulkily tugs on the dark beanie Benn threw over his head to hide his hair, glancing down at the boys. Sabo and Luffy had left their hats behind on the Red Force, along with Ace's beaded necklace. The masks they wear are simple - cloths with viewing holes tied over their eyes, wide enough to cover most of Ace's freckles, as well as Sabo and Luffy's scars. Benn had given Sabo a beanie to hide his hair, as well - after all, light hair is rather uncommon amongst those who don't possess Noble blood.

They sneak their way through the forest, toward the back part of the Base that was said to be left unguarded. Benn and Yasopp take up positions in a couple of the high trees to act as lookouts, while Shanks remains stationary, using his Observation Haki to keep an eye on the boys' progress.

...

"This is stupid."

"You're not helping, Ace."

"I'm just saying..."

"I can't hold on forever!"

Luffy's exclamation interrupts the argument waiting to happen, and the two older siblings glance down at Luffy in mild concern. Reaching the large wall, Luffy had immediately stretched out his arms and latched onto the ledge, but Ace and Sabo had quickly grabbed onto him before he could sling off without them. As it stands, the only thing preventing the rubber boy from launching over the wall and straight into the Marine Base are his feet bracing themselves against the stone bricks.

"Why are we waiting?" Luffy continues.

"I've been trying to tell you!" Sabo shouts before sighing through his nose heavily, calming, "First of all, you can't just launch off without us. Second, I wanted to tell you to try and not use your powers, Luffy, not unless you have to."

"But why?" Luffy whines.

"Because Shanks said he doesn't want us getting bounties until we're older," Sabo explains, "You're the only person alive made of rubber, so if you used your powers here, then they'll put it in the bounty description our disguises will get; and if you, for some reason, need to use your powers when we're with Shanks, then it'll be easy for people to put two and two together, right? If they recognize your powers, then they'll update your bounty with your _actual_ information, which is what Shanks wants us to _avoid_."

"Besides, Luffy," Ace smirks, and Sabo wants to know just what has his normally brooding brother in such a good mood; why he's been in such a good mood since Shanks came to them with this mission, "You said you wanted to start recruiting in the East Blue because it's where you come from, so if you got a bounty before then, that would be cheating, wouldn't it?"

"Ah! I'm not a cheater!" Luffy exclaims, determination bright in his eyes, and Sabo sighs in relief because now he's satisfied that his little brother will do what he can to avoid using his powers. The last thing Luffy would ever want to be called is a cheater, especially by Ace, the boy he is determined to defeat one day in a fair fight.

"Alright," Sabo begins, "Now, remember the plan, Luffy. Try to launch us a little away from the actual Base. We want to sneak into the cafeteria, not bust in. I mean, you're our distraction, but Ace and I still need to sneak past everybody so we can reach the stairs, so-"

Suddenly, Luffy's foot skids up the wall. His balance lost, he and the two boys clinging to him immediately get launched straight into the air with shrieks of surprise, right over the wall and straight toward the Marine Base.

"LUFFY!"

...

"Ah," Shanks snorts before he sighs almost miserably, "Luffy..."

...

Terrible way to start off their plan, Sabo grumbles in his head. Because now, instead of landing in the courtyard as was intended so that Ace and Sabo may sneak in while Luffy heads for the cafeteria to begin his distraction, they're headed _straight_ for the cafeteria where _all_ of them will be seen instead of just Luffy.

And the landing will probably be more painful than not.

Luffy seems to understand this, as well, having it completely drilled into his head by Shanks that Sabo and Ace will be injured and feel pain where Luffy may not because of his powers, and so the rubber boy quickly begins sucking in air. Luffy wants to learn how to be able to do this instantly for the times he may be trying to shield his nakama, but for now it's a gradual process. Not too gradual, though, for he quickly pulls in enough air to expand his body like a balloon right as they crash through one of the large windows, allowing him to cushion his brothers from the fall.

Ace and Sabo bounce off his body as if he were a trampoline, and the two older boys end up flying off once again, Luffy quickly deflating in response. They crash land somewhere near a door to the far right of the rather enormous room with twin groans of pain, exasperation, and resignation just as the occupants seem to finally jump into action.

"W-Wait!" One of the men shout, causing the men reaching for their guns to quickly halt their movements, "I-It's just a kid!"

"Eh?"

"A kid?"

"'The hell? How'd a kid crash through the window?"

"How'd he even get over the wall is what I'd like to know."

"You know how the kids around here are; they like to try to climb the walls; s'a popular dare around here, actually."

"What's with the mask, though?"

"Er... playing dress-up...?"

"... Dress-up?"

One of the men kneel before him, and Luffy quickly notices that all of the men have pocketed their weapons as they look him over, coming to the conclusion that it is not a malicious intruder but a lost kid that they don't wish to harm or scare. None of them seem to have noticed Ace and Sabo, and the two older boys quickly realize the same, and they quickly and quietly begin making their way further to the right, toward the nearly hidden staircase near the foodbar the cooks stand behind - the staircase that leads to the second floor, where the Fruit is held.

"Hey, little guy," The man kneeling before him says kindly, "How'd you get in here? Did you get lost? Um... did someone throw you? Do you need a doctor?"

He's boring, Luffy decides, all of them are. They all look the same with those hats, and why do every one of them roll up their sleeves? Marine uniforms are stupid, Luffy thinks. Gramps' was cooler - he had a big cape-jacket-cloak-thing.

The smell of food wading through the cafeteria finally hits him, and he stares up at the man with wide, blank eyes, holding back a grin when he notices the man begins sweating under the scrutiny.

"Say," Luffy begins, and the man blinks at him, "Do you have any meat?"

"M-Meat?" The man sputters before sighing almost impatiently, "Look, kid, do you even know where you are? You're in a Marine Base. Look, just come here; we can call your parents or something-"

Luffy jumps back when he sees the man reaching out for him, and he lands near another Marine. Said Marine tries to snatch him up, as well, and Luffy quickly dodges with a high hop. He lands right on the head of the man that originally tried to grab him, using him as a stepping stone to hop over the crowd of gathered Marines, landing on one of the large tables.

Suddenly, the chase is on, but luckily for him, they seem to think of him as more of an unruly kid than an actual threat and focus more on subduing and catching rather than harming or killing. Luffy snickers when they begin shouting, dodging every one that comes his way. It's something Shanks had helped him out with; rubber is bouncy, so Luffy can use that to his advantage to speed up his movements and make split-second turns by simply manipulating the bounce in his step. It's not only useful for him in this situation, but it's something that no one could truly connect with a Devil Fruit, allowing him to use his powers to his advantage without actually revealing them.

He jumps out of the way from two approaching Marines, and he can't hold back a laugh when their momentum causes them to slam right into each other and go down with identical groans.

"GET BACK HERE!"

"HE'S A LIKE A DAMN _MONKEY_!"

"SOMEONE STOP HIM!"

"WHAT _WITH_ THIS KID?!"

"Shishishishi~!"

...

Ace glances back at the sounds of stomping and shouting before snorting, turning his attention back to keeping up with Sabo and following him through the long halls.

"Sounds like Luffy's having fun," Ace mutters, and Sabo releases a snort of his own.

"With all the noise they're making, the whole Base will be after him soon," Sabo mumbles back, a hint of concern in his tone.

"Maybe, but he can handle it," Ace states, knowing Luffy is perfectly capable of dodging, even more capable of fighting, a few men, "Besides, it might make our job easier, right? Are we almost there, anyway?"

"Yeah, it should be in this door up ahead," Sabo says, and they come to a stop in front of the storage room Sabo had memorized off of the map. Ace stands lookout as Sabo quickly gets to work picking the lock with the small kit Shanks had given him just for the occasion. The door is open quickly, something Sabo takes pride in - he had opened it even faster than usual, and he guesses using the kit might be easier than whatever pins he had come across before.

They quickly shuffle inside, Ace quietly shutting the door behind them. It takes them a second to actually find the safe, far less obvious than they had thought it would be. It's built into the wall, right beside the door, so that, when opened, the safe would be hidden behind it. Sabo quickly snatches one of the few stools strewn around the small storage room, using it as a boost to see the safe better. It's not a combination safe - though, it probably would've been smarter had it been - but a simple padlock.

It doesn't take long at all for Sabo to pick the lock - Sabo himself stops to think about what exactly they would've done had the safe been a proper combination lock - and the two stop in their tracks at the sight of the Fruit. From what Sabo's read, the shape of Devil Fruits often resemble actual fruits, like bananas or grapes; he supposes the Mera Mera no Mi is meant to resemble an orange, but to him it looks more like a flaring sun. Each swirl flares off into the shape of a flame, and even the stem flares up a little.

Its close resemblance to fire suddenly makes him nervous, though he's not sure why. Sure, it can turn people into fire, but it's not an _actual_ fire. So, why is he so afraid to touch it?

Ace seems to take note of his sudden bout of nerves, and he reaches in and grabs it himself. Sabo watches as his older brother stares at the Fruit for a brief moment, a look in his eyes that Sabo can't quite decipher, before he boy suddenly grabs the satchel resting on Sabo's hip and shoves the Fruit inside. Sabo squawks indignantly as he's jerked by the move, shooting Ace a brief glare.

The boy merely grins at him, "We got the Fruit, so let's go catch up with Luffy."

Sabo sighs, but agrees. However, just as the two turn to leave, the door swings wide open, forcing them to hop back to avoid being smacked.

They stare up at the large Marine blinking down at him, a stack of files in hand, and the Marine stares back.

The contest lasts for a long moment before the man suddenly realizes there are intruders in the room, and Sabo and Ace yelp when he shouts and lashes out to grab them, paperwork scattering to the ground. The two avoid his hands, ducking around his legs and sprinting out of the room.

"Oi!" The Marine shouts before he blinks, taking in the sight of the open safe, eyes widening in understanding and a hint of fear, "O-Oi! The Devil Fruit! OI! THE DEVIL FRUIT'S BEEN STOLEN!"

A few of the many doors in the hall slam open, Marines rushing out of their offices at the call.

"The Devil Fruit?" One yells before he catches sight of Sabo and Ace in front of him, having skidded to a halt when they noticed the doors opening.

Suddenly, they find themselves surrounded.

Sabo sighs, muttering, "I knew it couldn't be that easy..."

...

Shanks sighs, "No, it's never that easy..."

He suddenly blinks, somewhat surprised, murmuring, "Ah, Luffy seems to have a found a friend..."

...

The chase forces Luffy out of the cafeteria and through one of the many halls in the Base. He sprints far ahead of the crowd of Marines chasing and shouting after him, glancing back at them with a hint of annoyance in his young features.

They just don't quit. And normally, Luffy would think that's awesome, but he has his brothers to worry about right now.

"Man, these guys are annoying," He mutters to himself, turning his attention back to the hallway in front of him. He blinks, catching sight of someone rushing from the hall he's in to around the corner of a hallway to the left he's coming up to.

It's a boy, a bit older than him from what Luffy can glimpse. Actually, a lot older; he looks like a teenager, not a kid. He's kind of pale, but his skin is darker than Sabo's - but that's normal, Sabo is probably the palest person he knows. What catches Luffy's attention is the white spots splattered across his face and neck, and the dark eyes that glance at the crowd of Marines chasing him with a hint of awe, incredulity, and disdain before rushing through the first door of the hall he turns into.

He's pretty, Luffy decides.

And interesting enough to get distracted by.

He looks back to check how far behind him the Marines are, and he decides that they're far enough away that they won't see him use his powers. He quickly stretches out his arms, latching onto the corner of the hall he saw the boy rush into, allowing him to quickly snap his way into it. He waits for a moment, hidden around the corner just to see if his plan worked, and the crowd of Marines go rushing past him, shouting all the while.

He snickers a little before turning his attention to the door he saw the boy run into, and he quickly slams it open.

The boy inside, sitting on a single bed and reading a stack of papers, appears to nearly jump out of his skin at the sudden interruption. Some papers fall out of his hands, but he manages to save most of the stack. He shoots Luffy a rather impressive glare - it's not as scary as Ace's, though, so Luffy ignores it and shuts the door behind him.

The boy stares at him for a little while before his eyebrow begins twitching. It's another moment before he finally snaps, "What is it?"

"Who are you?" Luffy quickly begins questioning, "Are you a Marine? You don't look like a Marine. Why are you in a Marine Base? Oi, oi, why do you have spots? They look cool, can I have spots, too?"

Throughout his rapid questioning, the boy can do little more than blink. His expression quickly falls to a look of disdain with a hint of something Luffy recognizes from his own experiences from before he met Shanks, Ace, and Sabo; loneliness.

He sighs through his nose, closing his eyes in what looks like an attempt to find patience, "No, I am not a Marine, nor will I _ever_ be. I'm in a Marine Base because my guardian thought I'd be safer here. And... my spots are my business, and I doubt you'd really want them."

Luffy blinks, "Why would you be safe with Marines?"

His look quickly falls into a pout, "And why wouldn't I want spots? They look pretty on you, so why can't I have them?"

The boy blinks, brows furrowed incredulously, and Luffy grins wide when he notices a hint of pink spread across the boy's cheeks. The boy sighs again, "Please tell me why you want to hear the life story of a stranger?"

"My name's Luffy," Luffy says immediately, "My brothers and I are here to steal stuff from the Marines. Now what's your name?"

The boy blinks; he does that a lot, Luffy thinks.

"What?"

"Well, I told you my name and why I'm here, so now it's your turn," Luffy grins, "That way we won't be strangers anymore."

"I don't think it works like that..." The boy mumbles before his words seem to finally catch up with him, "Wait, you're here to steal something? Is that why everyone's been screaming for past twenty minutes?"

"Probably," Luffy shrugs, uncaring, "Now, your name? Er... Please...?"

The boy sighs, "My name is Law. Now why are you in my room?"

"I saw you run in the hall, and you looked way more interesting than those guys," Luffy shrugs again, "Marines are kind of boring."

Law snorts, a hint of a smirk crawling up his features, "They are boring, aren't they?"

"Ne, you said your guardian thinks you'd be safer here," Luffy says, "But why?"

Law sighs again; he does that even more than he blinks, Luffy thinks, "I'm from the North Blue. Some stuff happened there that sort of... made me a bit of a target for some pirates, so he decided to take me far away from the North Blue to some crummy little Base in the West Blue with the hopes that it would be safer here. Get it?"

"Yeah," Luffy grins, "Your guardian sounds awesome. He must really care about you if he's willing to travel so far. But, why doesn't he just beat the pirates up so they can't go after you?"

Law stares at him a moment, the hint of pink darkening slightly as he looks away in grudging embarrassment, mumbling, "Cora-san is just a nice person... it's not just because of me..."

Luffy's grin widens, and he agrees just to make the boy less embarrassed; he's dealt with an embarrassed Ace enough to know how to properly react, "Right."

"Ah, and not every pirate crew can just be beaten up, you know," Law states, "Some pirate crews are too smart or just too famous for that."

"Like Shanks!" Luffy exclaims happily, "I'm gonna be famous like that one day! No Marine would ever be stupid enough to mess with the Pirate King! Er, well... maybe Gramps would be, but he doesn't count."

Law stares at him for a long moment, face completely and utterly blank in a way that would make most feel uncomfortable. But not Luffy. Luffy understands that Law is just trying to figure him out, see if he actually means what he says, see if there's any hints of doubt within him. Luffy does it to people a lot; Ace does it, too. Actually, Gramps does it a lot, as well.

Ah, Shanks did say that people with D's in their name share certain traits. Maybe looking at people weird is one of them? He doesn't know. Shanks never tells him what the D means even though he acts like he knows.

Suddenly, the smirk returns to Law's face, and a hint of amusement causes his eyes to light up in a way that Luffy appreciates, "You said you have brothers here with you? Shouldn't you be trying to find them to make sure they're not caught?"

Luffy blinks before a sudden look of pure panic takes over his face, "AH! I FORGOT ABOUT ACE AND SABO!"

He quickly spins around and jerks the door open, sprinting out of the room as fast as he can to find his brothers. He can't believe he forgot about them! What's wrong with him!? What if they're in trouble!? Ah, wait, he almost forgot something else...

Back inside the room, Law returns to sorting through his papers.

"Pirate King, huh..." Law murmurs, tiny smirk remaining firmly on his face, "Not bad..."

Suddenly, the door slams back open, causing him to yelp in surprise. He feels his face warm at the near feminine sound that escaped his lips, and he shoots Luffy a glare for waltzing back in so violently.

"What _now_?" He growls.

"I almost forgot!" Luffy grins, "Do you wanna join my crew?"

Law blinks in surprise, brow raising incredulously. He gives Luffy another long, soul-searching stare before he suddenly snorts once before breaking out into soft laughter. Luffy smiles when the older boy shoots him a D-worthy grin - though, it's a bit smaller than his and Ace's own - before stating, "You know what, Luffy? I'm way older than you, and I have my own dreams, so I can't wait for you. But when you set sail, and if you find me? I think joining your crew might not be half bad."

Luffy releases a happy, triumphant exclamation before sprinting back out of the room to find Ace and Sabo.

Law's the first person who ever agreed to join his future crew, and he wants to tell them all about it.

But, first, he's got to find them so they can get out of this stupid, boring Base.

...

Shanks snorts, a grin lighting up his features.

"What now, Boss?" Benn sighs from above, looking a bit resigned.

"Luffy," Shanks snorts again, "Recruiting already."

...

"YOUR PLAN WAS TERRIBLE, SABO!" Ace shouts, quickly ducking under a swipe from one of the many Marines rushing them through the halls.

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT SOME RANDOM MARINE CAME IN WHEN HE DID!" Sabo shouts back, quickly catching up with him as they sprint from the crowd of Marines as quickly as they can, "DON'T BLAME ME FOR THAT!"

Ace scoffs when Sabo finally catches up to him, the two running side by side, and he grumbles, "If anything, we should blame Shanks, he's the reason we're here..."

"Right, it's all Shanks' fault," Sabo quickly agrees.

...

Shanks' brow twitches, "Those brats..."

...

Sabo and Ace quickly make their way down the stairs and back into the cafeteria. It's almost emptied out save for a couple of Marines here and there, and Sabo can only assume that they're chasing Luffy through the downstairs halls somewhere. He hopes his brother is okay, but as it stands, he has a bit more to worry about at the moment. They're so close to completing this mission, their first mission as pirates - cabin boys, sure, but still - and Sabo doesn't want to lose. He knows Ace feels the same, can tell by the boy's determined gait and the way he quickly falls into fighting off Marines with the hand-to-hand techniques he's learned from Kincaid.

Ace almost appears unbeatable from Sabo's line of sight. Sabo has seen Ace take down men over twice his size many times, but to see him do it with his newly found finesse is quite a sight to see. Sabo quickly falls in line, using the plain wooden staff - his pipe being far too recognizable, the same reason his knives had been left behind - given to him by Kincaid, and taking down a few himself to give Ace more breathing room, the boy being far too surrounded for Sabo's liking.

Suddenly, he sees the butt of a gun being swung toward him, and he yelps when it nails him right in the temple with a too loud crunch.

Sabo gasps, blinking rapidly.

Because he's not on the ground, groaning from the smack of a gun, skin broken and bleeding. He's standing in the middle of a crowd of Marines, and he blinks again when he realizes that the scene looks far too familiar for his liking. He sucks in a breath, quickly ducking under the butt of a gun being swung his way.

The shock of it all causes him to lose his balance, and he falls back on his rear, hands splayed out behind him to hold his weight. Ace quickly jumps in front of him, rushing the Marines coming toward him so that they can't reach him, but Sabo isn't paying as much attention to the situation as he should.

What _was_ that?

Was that... Haki...?

He jerks to attention when he hears a yelp, and he hops to his feet in concern when he sees Ace get pushed back. He and Ace are strong; they can handle the Red-Haired Pirates' training sessions just fine, they can handle Garp's just fine, but there are far too many people here and they're still learning. They're surrounded by far too many Marines, and they have no idea where Luffy is.

His concerns are quickly answered, though, when Luffy comes crashing into the room from one of the halls.

"LEAVE THEM ALONE, JERKS!" Luffy bellows out, launching himself at the crowd of Marines surrounding them. Sabo isn't sure what happens, then. It's almost like a shockwave, but not as powerful. When Luffy hits the ground in the middle of the crowd, the floor crunches beneath his feet and a couple of Marines too close to him get pushed back.

Sabo doesn't have the time to dwell on it, because Luffy quickly winds a rubber arm around him and Ace, ignoring the shocked sputtering of the Marines around them, and uses his free arm to stretch out and latch onto one of the ceiling bars and quickly launch them out of the cafeteria.

They go sailing right out of the Base and into the courtyard. Luffy doesn't waste any time, though, stretching out again to launch them over the wall. It's by a miracle that they land near where their mission first started, and the boys quickly go rushing back toward Shanks and the others. They hear shouts behind them, but they're too far away, and Sabo knows that Shanks and the others can lose them before they can catch back up again.

Shanks is grinning when they reach them, the kind of wide grin that would put Luffy or Garp's to shame.

"Dahahaha!" Shanks laughs proudly, "Not bad for a first try."

With that, Shanks, Benn, and Yasopp don't waste any time, rushing the boys back to their little raft back to the Red Force. It's the fastest Sabo has ever seen the crew move getting the ship ready to sail, and soon they're going back the way they came, back to the Grand Line and back to the New World.

* * *

Shanks stares at the flaring Fruit in his hand before a grin lights up his features, glancing down at the boys in front of him. They had quickly ditched their disguises, Luffy rushing to put his hat back on, and now they stare up at him in their normal attire, excitement barely contained.

"You did good," Shanks smiles, "You even unlocked your Haki."

"I was right?" Sabo grins widely, "I used Haki? And Luffy, too?"

"Ah," Shanks grins, releasing a hum affirmation, "Sabo appears to have used Observation, while Luffy here used a hint of Armament. It's rather unusual, actually. All this time I've been teaching you to unlock Observation, but Luffy decides to skip ahead. Tch, that's just like you, Luffy."

"Oi!" Luffy complains, "That's a good thing, though, right? You said it's one of the most dangerous forms of Haki, and now I might not have such a hard time with it!"

"Aye, that's true," Shanks agrees easily, grin never fading. He looks the boys over for a quick moment. Their excitement at completing such a mission doesn't fade, but they look exhausted, and Shanks can't blame them. It's their first time fighting a crowd of Marines, and two of them unlocked Haki. Shanks has a feeling that Ace had come close to using his own Conqueror's Haki, but his fear of his brothers getting caught up in it - not yet able to control who gets affected by it - held him back, which is exhausting in itself.

"That's enough excitement for one day," Shanks states, "Why don't you take a bath and go rest for a little while."

Sabo and Luffy quickly hum in agreement, twisting around to make their way into the lower levels of the ship where the bathing areas are kept. Shanks sends Ace a meaningful look before the boy can do the same, and Ace nods in understanding before following his brothers.

Later, They agree.

Tonight.

* * *

"Your first crewmate, huh?" Sabo mutters, leaning back against the wall of the large tub, on one of the benches that bordered it, "It's just like you to start recruiting now when you know you have to wait at least nine years before you can even set sail. You're gonna keep people waiting, Luffy."

"Oi!" Luffy complains, a groan in his voice; he sits on one of the highest benches he can find, trying to lessen to the pull of the water. Sabo has come to the conclusion that moving water, like rain or the water from a shower, doesn't really affect Luffy. It's still water that's the problem, but usually only when it's high enough to reach his knees. He knows this because he's seen Luffy stand in water at least ankle deep without it affecting him, but any higher than that, and the boy ends up falling out quite quickly. He wonders if it's like that for all Devil Fruit users, or if the affects of water depend on the Devil Fruit itself.

"I had to recruit him then!" Luffy continues, "He's older, and he lives there, so who knows when I'll see him again? Besides, I keep my promises! When I'm Captain, I'll find him and he'll be on my crew!"

"When you're Captain, huh?" Sabo grins, "Does that mean you're not gonna be on a crew with us?"

"No!" Luffy immediately denies, "You guys should be on my crew!"

Sabo sighs, having gone over this with the boy before, "Luffy-"

"Fine."

Sabo, and even Luffy, can't hold back their blinks of shock, quickly snapping their attentions to Ace. The boy flushes under their scrutiny, ducking so that his mouth falls beneath the water, but so that his nose is free to breath, glancing away from them with a hint of a glower in his features. Sabo stares at him for a moment, wondering where the sudden agreement to let Luffy be Captain came from. Some of the cream that Ace had scrubbed onto his face fizzles out in the water, and it looks like some of his conditioner is still in his hair in a few places. Shanks had bought Ace a lot of stuff when he found out about the boy's quirk - and Sabo couldn't be more thankful for the man's acceptance - and the work he's been doing is starting to make him look a bit softer than before. His hair is always shiny now, and his skin is always clear and even seems to glow sometimes. Sabo likes it. He thinks it makes Ace look nice.

He shoots Ace a small smile, "What's this? You're suddenly fine with Luffy being Captain?"

Ace lifts his face out of the water, shooting Sabo a tiny, halfhearted glare, "Shut up, I just... I've been thinking about it, and today sort of sold it for me. I mean, Luffy wants to be Pirate King, Sabo, and the Pirate King can't have a captain to answer to. You and I don't care about that, though, right? We just want to be free. And today..."

Ace suddenly grins, bright and happy, and it's such a grin that Sabo is so unused to that he can't help but blink in awe at the sight, "If being on the same crew as you and Luffy is anything like today, I think it'd be pretty great."

Sabo thinks it over, and he suddenly understands what Ace means. He, Ace, and Luffy had always gone on adventures together, fighting the giant animals in their jungle, stealing from the townsfolk, and running around the Grey Terminal, but it was nothing like today had been. Fighting the Marines alongside his brothers, unlocking his Haki, watching Luffy unlock his own Haki... it had been stressful, but at the same time it had been one of the best days of Sabo's life. The adrenaline rush and the excitement had actually been quite fun, and Sabo wouldn't mind doing it all over again.

"I see what you mean," Sabo murmurs, grinning lightly, and he shoots Luffy a look, catching sight of the boy's excited trembling, and he shoots him down before he can explode, "BUT... we need to compromise first."

"Ah, compromise...?" Luffy whines.

"You can be Captain, Luffy," Sabo agrees, grinning a little, "But, Ace and I get special treatment, got it? We'll be members of your crew, but there's no way we'll be taking orders from out little brother. Ace and I want to be more free than anyone, Luffy, and we can't do that if we have someone to answer to."

"What he's saying, Luffy," Ace interrupts, "Is that we'll join your crew and you'll be Captain, but, unlike the other members of your future crew, we don't have to take orders from you or whatever First Mate you find. Get it?"

"But... you'll still be on my crew, right?" Luffy asks.

"Yeah," Sabo and Ace grin simultaneously, and Luffy quickly bellows out in joy, splashing them both in his excitement.

Ace is right. Having Luffy for a Captain won't be so bad.

* * *

It's late at night, like they had agreed through Shanks' small look, when Ace sneaks out his and his brothers' shared room. He spares them a small glance, snorting at the sight of Luffy sprawled across his bed like the monkey he is. He doesn't know where Shanks would be or where he wants them to meet, so he just climbs the ratlines and makes his way up to the main royal yard where Shanks first learned about Ace's quirk and his true feelings about his father, where they had their first proper conversation.

He takes a seat on the royal, positioned identical to how he had been when he and Shanks first conversed here, knees drawn up so that his feet can rest flatly on the royal. It doesn't take long for Shanks to shuffle up the ropes next to him, a small sack thrown over his shoulders - more than likely containing the Devil Fruit Ace and his brothers worked so hard for.

Shanks doesn't say anything when he takes a seat next to Ace. He merely digs through the bag and pulls the Mera Mera no Mi free, silently handing it over to Ace. Ace isn't quite sure what he's feeling as he looks the Fruit in his hands over, but he feels his fingers trembling. He thinks he should feel excited or scared or something along those lines, but he doesn't. He thinks he might feel a slight bit of triumph for being able to help his brother fight their way through the Marines to get their hands on it, but it's the only feeling he truly recognizes.

The Fruit looks magnificent, like a flaring sun, but it doesn't feel any different from a normal Fruit. It doesn't feel hot in his hands, just a bit warm from being shoved in that bag for so long. The skin of the Fruit kind of feels like an orange would, a bit smooth, a bit textured, but nothing about it aside from its appearance makes him think of fire. There's no warmth behind it, no fire, and he wonders how these normal feeling, but not so normal looking Fruits could contain and give such power.

"Um," He swallows; he thinks his nerves are finally starting to kick in, "Do I eat all of it...? Luffy says he did, but Luffy tends to swallow things whole."

Shanks snorts, eyes narrowing in a hint of annoyance, muttering, "You're tellin' me..."

He quickly sober up, though, shooting Ace an encouraging smile, "From what I've learned over the years, it's only the first bite that transfers the power. I have been told that people tend to eat all of the Fruit, though, because of a lack of knowledge on how the whole process works. You can eat all of it if you want, but I've been told they taste horrendous."

"Mm," Ace hums quietly. He looks the Fruit over for another moment before taking a deep breath through his nose. He decides to just go for it; he worked hard for this thing, and he and his brothers exhausted themselves earning it, and he won't let that go to waste. He takes as big a bite as he can right off the side. He manages to maintain a straight face as he chews - it feels like an orange, but it sure as hell doesn't taste like one - and swallows.

Then he cringes.

Shanks laughs at him.

Ace scowls, "Hey, I have the power now, so that means you can eat it, right? I'd like to see you try and keep a straight face."

"Meh, I'd rather not," Shanks smirks, poking his tongue out at him like the mature adult he is, "So?"

"I don't know," Ace mumbles, looking himself over, "I don't feel any different..."

"You might not feel different," Shanks states dryly, "But the fire hands says otherwise."

"What?" Ace mutters, holding up his hands.

He yelps in surprise at the sight of fire covering both his palms, and he instinctively waves his hands around to try and rush the fire out. Because it's fire, right? It's supposed to _burn_ , right? He stops, though, when he realizes that it doesn't hurt, that the fire feels almost... soothing. He relaxes, quite a bit, actually, and stares at the fire coating his hands. It feels warm and soft, like it's caressing his skin. It feels like a piece of him, like something that he never noticed missing had finally come home, and he wonders if it's because the feeling of his Haki resembled soothing flames far more than it should. It feels... right.

Now, if only he could figure out how to put it out.

"Okay?" Shanks asks, and he hums distractedly as he continues looking the fire in his palms over, "Hm... I don't know much about controlling Devil Fruits, to be completely honest. Buggy - a fellow cabin boy of mine - told me he used to have to think about certain things in the beginning to control his own powers. But, Buggy wasn't a Logia, so it might not work so well for you, but it's worth a shot. Try thinking about something that would help you control it, yeah? Perhaps you could treat it like the Haki exercises we've been working on."

Ace takes heed of his advice, and he begins thinking it over. His Haki feels like smoldering embers that can be breathed into an inferno at any second, and... this fire, _his_ fire, doesn't feel so different. Controlling it in a similar manner to controlling his Haki might not be such a bad idea, but at the same time, Devil Fruit powers and Haki powers are two very different things, so they should be treated as such, right? But, when learning to control his Haki, he would often think of Luffy and Sabo. What would happen if he lost control of his King's Disposition? Would he hurt them, frighten them, make them wary of him? It's something he never ever wants to happen, and he thinks about what would happen if Luffy and Sabo, still scared of fire as that, would walk out here and see how little control he has over his fire. He'd scare them. He could give Sabo another panic attack.

With these thoughts in mind, he begins tugging at the flames in his hands. The fire feels wild and it fights back a bit, but it soon begins receding. It doesn't take long after for the flames to suddenly swipe out with a quiet whoosh.

He grins triumphantly, "I did it!"

Shanks grins back, but Ace soon finds his smiling falling when another thought comes to mind.

"I can't..." Ace murmurs, "That's not enough to control it, though. What if I accidentally burn Luffy or Sabo?"

"Let me tell you what I know about Logia," Shanks states, hopping to his feet, digging through his pocket; Ace follows his movements, standing up on the royal, as well, "Logia are very unique, very powerful Fruits. They allow you to become your element. You don't just control fire now, you _are_ fire."

Shanks pulls out a small pocket knife, unfolding it with his single hand. Ace yelps in surprise when the man suddenly swipes out at him, instinctively attempting to hop back. He freezes in shock, however, when the knife just goes right through him, a line of flames following the movement before fading out. He didn't feel a thing, not when he transformed, not when the knife went through him; it was as if the knife never touched him in the first place.

Shanks grins at the look of realization on his face, "That means... you can't be hit. _However_ , please remember what I told you about Haki. Being Logia doesn't make you invincible. I don't want the power going to your head, right?"

Ace nods in understanding, and Shanks grins again.

"But, as I said, you _are_ fire," He continues, "Fire is yours to command, so you should be perfectly capable of controlling who and what it burns, yes?"

"Yeah..." Ace breathes in realization, "Yeah, okay."

He holds out his hands, and it takes a few minutes, but his fire finally answers to his call, igniting in a soft flame in his hands. He holds it there for a moment, looking it over, and he decides to experiment for a moment. His fire spreads from his hands and up his arms, it winds around his torso like a coil for a brief moment before slinking back, traveling up his shoulders and toward his hair. His flames flicker briefly before receding once again, returning to rest in his hands. He tilts his head curiously, staring at the flame, and he hears Shanks let out a quiet chuckle at the sight of his curious experimenting.

The man reaches out his hand, slightly cautious. His fingers twitch when he feels the stinging heat, quickly pulling his hand back before he can be burnt.

"Ah..." Ace mumbles, slightly dejected.

"It's fine," Shanks laughs, "You ate your Fruit not even ten minutes ago. I don't expect you to get it right on the first try."

But, he doesn't get it on the second try, either. Or the third. Or the fourth or fifth. They go at it for nearly two hours before Ace finally huffs in frustration, the fire in his palms flaring in response, and he sits back on his rear in annoyance.

"It's not working..." He mumbles, "I can't go back with Sabo and Luffy before I learn how do this. I could burn them!"

Shanks sighs, looking just as tired as he feels, before the man suddenly mutters, "New plan. Wait here."

Ace watches him climb down the ratlines, huffing. He stares at the fire in his palms, turning his hands over every now and then, watching the fire spread from his palms to the back of his hands as he does so. He almost wishes he could feel the pain his flames more than likely caused Shanks with their experimenting, as it would probably make him learning to control what he hurts and what he doesn't easier. At the same time, though, he likes that his fire feels soothing to him far more than his desire to learn control faster. It feels too great for him to want to give it up, even for his brothers' sake, and he wonders if that makes him selfish or if this is just normal for Devil Fruit users when they first encounter their powers.

He jerks when Shanks makes his return, climbing back up the ropes and onto the royal yard. It's the object in his hand that causes Ace to jolt in a bit of fear.

"That's Luffy's hat," Ace states, voice containing a hint of dread.

Shanks shrugs, flipping the hat in his hand, "Technically, it's _my_ hat, but Luffy and I decide our little deal can be altered now that he lives with me."

"Why do you have it, though?" Ace asks, but he knows, though, why Shanks has it and he doesn't even want to _think_ aboutit.

"You," Shanks states firmly, pointing the hat at him, "Would never do anything that would hurt your brothers in any way. You would never let this hat - the hat that means the world to Luffy - be damaged in any way, yes? Because it would hurt Luffy."

"Shanks-"

"Just think about Luffy," Shanks states, "Think about Sabo."

And Ace thinks about what would happen if he accidentally burnt that hat, how much Luffy would cry, how Luffy would say he broke his promise to Shanks, how utterly devastated Luffy would be to know that the hat that means a lot to not just him, but to Shanks, as well, was permanently damaged, and it would be all Ace's fault. He thinks back to the Grey Terminal fire, how much Luffy cried when he thought they were trapped, about how he cried about how _hot_ it was, and how the heat hurt him. He thinks about Sabo, back to that explosion. He remembers the sight of it, how he and Dogra had caught up with Sabo and called out to him. Sabo had answered, too, looked ready to make his way over to them so they could start over, but then those people had tossed that cannon at him, and Sabo had disappeared in a blast of fire and smoke. Ace remembers how much it burned, too, when he had jumped out there and pulled Sabo away before the second shot could hit, and if it burnt that much when he was only grazed by it, he can't imagine how hurt Sabo must've been when he had been hit directly. He thinks back to Sabo's panic attacks, how scared he looked of a match fire, how scared he looked to even _touch_ the Devil Fruit that now belongs to Ace. What would happen if he lost control and burnt them? Would they forgive him? Ace would like to think so, but he also thinks that they'd be wary of him even if they say all is forgiven. He doesn't want that, not for himself or for his brothers.

Throughout his scattered thoughts, he doesn't notice Shanks step forward and hold the straw hat right over the flame on his palms. When Ace finally does notice, he tries to jerk back, but Shanks places a warning foot over his own.

"Shanks-!"

"Ace, look."

Ace stops, calms himself, and he sees what Shanks sees. The hat sits directly in the flame, but it remains undamaged. The fire touches it, but it doesn't burn it, and Ace watches in fascination as Shanks pulls the hat back and replaces it with his own hand. The fire caresses Shanks' skin, but it doesn't harm him, not in the slightest.

"See?" Shanks grins, "I knew you'd never let anything happen to them."

Shanks grabs his hand, and the fire surrounds the large palm that dwarfs his own, looking more soothing than angry, and Ace suddenly feels his mouth pull into a grin.

He can do this.

* * *

Shanks and Ace practice well into the night, and by the next morning, Ace is exhausted but giddy. Shanks allows him to sleep in, and waves off Sabo and Luffy's concerns that he is falling sick and distracts them with some training. Ace sleeps through all of it, all of Luffy Armament training and all of Sabo's Observation training, and it's well past noon by the time he finally wakes.

He forgoes trying to find Sabo and Luffy for now, making his way up the ratlines to the royal he frequents. Being here now quickly reminds him of his impromptu training session with Shanks, and he curiously removes his flats and stares at his red toenails for a moment before he calls forth his fire. He watches as the small flames flicker across his ankles, the orange glow reflecting off his red nails in a way that makes him grin slightly.

He jolts, quickly willing his fire away when he notices someone climbing the ratlines near him. He grins a little at the sight of Sabo, and the boy shoots him a small grin back, taking a seat next to him.

"I was wondering where you went," Sabo states, "I went to check up on you to see if you felt better, but you weren't there."

Ace raises a brow, "Did Shanks tell you I was sick?"

"No," Sabo shrugs, "He said you were tired and to let you rest. What did you do to wear yourself out that much?"

"Shanks and I stayed up late practicing," Ace states, and he speaks a bit slowly as he thinks his words over. He feels now, when they have a semblance of privacy high up from the rest of the crew and Luffy, is the best time to tell Sabo, but he's not entirely sure how. And, he really doesn't want Sabo to have a panic attack up here, not when Ace is still learning how to deal with such things and would probably panic himself with unsureness about whether he should go get help or not leave Sabo.

"Practicing?" Sabo blinks curiously.

"I... I ate a Devil Fruit," Ace says quietly, slightly hesitantly, "And, I wanted to learn a little bit of control before I went to bed."

"Devil Fruit?" Sabo exclaims in surprise before a look of understanding washes over his features, and suddenly there is silence. It's a tense silence, and it makes Ace unsure of himself. Did he truly do the right thing when he asked for that Fruit? He can't tell, not with the blank look that Sabo is giving him. But, now that he's felt his fire, he doesn't ever want to not feel it. It's comforting, and he should probably find it strange, that the element he feared yesterday is something he's quickly come to love.

"You..." Sabo murmurs, "You're fire now?"

"I..." Ace hesitates before he continues, "I wanted us... to not be scared anymore."

"You?" Sabo breathes in surprise, brows furrowed, "You never looked scared of fire, not even when you... pulled me out."

"You could've died," Ace states, "Luffy could've died. I could've lost both of you. Because of fire. Of course I was scared of it, but... I didn't want to be scared anymore, so I asked Shanks."

"That's why he wanted us to get the Devil Fruit," Sabo mumbles, snorting a little, "He wanted you to _earn_ it."

"Yeah," Ace laughs a little.

There is another bout of silence, far less tense than before, but still far from comfortable. Ace releases a shaky breath, looking down at his nails absentmindedly for a moment before Sabo suddenly speaks up again.

"Show me," He states.

"What?" Ace blinks in surprise.

"Show me," Sabo repeats, "Your fire. Show me."

Ace stares at him for a moment, unsure, before he allows his fire to ignite a few locks of his hair, keeping his arms wrapped around his legs in fear that he'll do something stupid with them. Sabo stares at the fire near his eyes for a long moment. Ace doesn't look at him, but Sabo can still see the way the fire reflects off of his silver eyes, making them look like molten steel. It should be terrifying, he should be panicking, but this is _Ace_ and Ace would never hurt him, would never let him _be_ hurt.

Sabo suddenly breathes out a small laugh, "It suits you. But now _I'm_ stuck being the responsible one if you or Luffy falls into the water. Thanks for that."

Ace feels a small grin light up his features at Sabo's quick acceptance, snorting, "Please, you'd let us sink for a few minutes just to teach us a _lesson_."

"If you're a Fruit user, don't go near water, or the figurehead like Luffy does," Sabo retorts, "It's not smart."

Ace snorts out another laugh when he thinks back on the amount of times Luffy went sailing into the waters, all because the figurehead has become his favorite seat. Ace doesn't blame him. It's a nice spot, lets him see everything the sea has to offer, be it strange fish or the way the sun reflects off the waves.

A sudden yelp draws their attention to the ratlines, and Ace jolts at the sight of Luffy, realizing he never extinguished the fire in his hair.

"Ace, you're on fire!" Luffy exclaims in alarm, pointing a finger at him that almost looks accusing.

"It's okay, Luffy," Sabo grins, and Ace blinks in surprise at how genuine and natural it looks, "It's something Ace is going to be doing a lot of from now on."

"Huh?" Luffy blinks blankly.

Ace sighs, holding out a hand toward Luffy, letting it ignite. Luffy blinks, a sparkle in his eyes that Ace sees whenever Luffy thinks something is cool, but there's something else there. Luffy is far more observant and intelligent than people tend to give him credit for, and Ace sees a spark of understanding wade through his eyes.

"I ate a Devil Fruit," Ace states, "The Devil Fruit that Shanks had us stole. I'm fire now. Just like you're rubber."

"Fire?" Luffy breathes, looking almost mesmerized by the fire on Ace's palm.

"Yes," Ace nods.

"The way I'm rubber, you said?" Luffy murmurs again, and Ace raises a brow, nodding hesitantly. Suddenly, Luffy reaches out his own hand, unhesitatingly latching onto Ace's flaming palm. Sabo and Ace both yelp in surprise, making Luffy snicker, and Sabo quickly calms when he realizes that the fire isn't hurting Luffy in the slightest.

It doesn't make Ace feel better, though, "Y-You _idiot!_ I'm still learning, what if that hurt you!?"

"You just said," Luffy states, "You're fire the way I'm rubber. So this fire is _you_ , right? Ace's fire is Ace, and Ace wouldn't hurt me."

Sabo blinks before he grins wide, reaching out his hand to grab both of theirs, and the three watch as the fire spreads to coat all three of their hands. Sabo grins wider at the feel of Ace's fire, cool and soothing, pleasant and comforting, a hint of Ace's own rough yet gentle presence within. Ace's fire is Ace.

"Shishishi~!" Luffy suddenly chuckles, "I have a fire man on my crew! We're gonna be the coolest crew ever!"

Sabo snorts, and he can't hold back a sudden bellow of laughter that escapes him. Because suddenly fire doesn't seem all that frightening anymore, not when it's a part of Ace, the brother that does everything he can to look out for him and Luffy, keep them safe and protected. He knows that he still has a bit to go before he's fully comfortable around fire, but for now he feels fine, protected even, feeling a hint of _Ace_ within the fire he's holding onto. And that's enough for now.

He's got Ace and Luffy to help him get better at it.

* * *

 **So, there's Law :) During Law's prologue, we're actually going to see that scene again, but in Law's POV so we can better understand what he's thinking and how he ended up there.**

 **About the boys' fighting styles - I was actually inspired by the _Avatar_ series for their fighting styles. Sabo's is based on Mai's knife throwing and Aang's staff fighting, Ace's is based off of Azula and Mako's firebending, bare-handed fighting, and acrobatics. Luffy's remains the same, though it is far more refined and it does have a hint of Sakura's fighting style from _Naruto_ , the whole super strong thing, especially when his Armament gets added in.**

 **So, because fire is my favorite superpower ever, I am going to take huge liberties with Ace's Devil Fruit power. For example, the color of the flames; fire can come in all kinds of colors depending on the gases and components used to create it; Ace is fire itself, so Ace should be able to fully control the gaseous levels and the fire's properties as he sees fit, as well as the density and heat of the fire, such as giving it some explosive properties or creating mirages _(if Nami's Heat Balls can cause mirages, I don't see why Ace can't do the same with the heat of his fire)_ ; I mean, obviously he can compress it considering his Firefly technique, so why not try more things than just spreading the fire?**

 **I _may_ take liberties with Haki, as well, but I'm honestly still undecided about that. Like, I have some ideas, but they're not really defined enough for me to be able to properly work with them.**

 **Also, I actually received a PM about what would happen once I get past the prologues, when the characters are older and are with their significant others because, while this particular PMer enjoyed my story, they aren't comfortable with reading way too detailed "scenes". So, I just wanted to go ahead and get it out there that there will be NO smut or lemons or whatever in this story. Not only do I feel it would disrupt the flow of this story, but I myself am not comfortable with writing such scenes.**

 **Now, things between couples might get heated every now and then, someone might say or think something a bit sexual, but it will never delve into any form of illicitness or explicitness. It will remain vague and never actually go over anything too intimate. Like, maybe they'll makeout or something in a certain scene, but there's not going to be any actual sex or lemons or what not. I hope that answers that question, PMer :)**


End file.
